The effect of liposuction on inferior epigastric perforator vessels: a prospective study with color Doppler sonography

Abstract

The authors investigated the effect of abdominal liposuction performed by superficial subdermal liposuction technique on inferior epigastric perforators. We aimed to determine whether previous liposuction is a contraindication to the use of an abdominal flap. The perforators in the abdominal region in 6 patients were marked preoperatively by color and pulsed-wave Doppler sonography (CDS), which gave a morphologic and flowmetric representation. The parameters studied with CDS were the location of the perforators, the diameters of the arteries and veins, and the flow velocity. These parameters were evaluated by the same method preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. The Student t test was employed to assess differences between pre- and postoperative values of variables. The results of our study led us to conclude that prior abdominal liposuction does no significant injury to most perforating vessels. However, CDS aimed to study the existence and the quality of perforators should be done before planning an abdominal flap.