HISTORY OF LIPOSUCTION

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HISTORY OF LIPOSUCTION Ó^PJWMDPA

Though liposuction is a relatively new form of cosmetic surgery, it has, nevertheless, become the most commonly performed cosmetic procedure in the United States. Since it was first introduced in the United States in the early 1980’s, many refinements have been made. The most significant improvement was the use of dilute local anesthetic instead of general anesthesia. We will refer to the improvement as the Klein tumescent technique.

NOTEWORTHY HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIPOSUCTION:

© 1996, Paul J. Weber, M.D., P.A., All Rights Reserved
1974	Liposuction Invented in Rome, Italy by Dr. Giorgio Fischer, a GYNECOLOGIST.
1978	Taken to Paris, France and popularized by Dr. Illouz, a Plastic Surgeon.
1980’s	Liposuction reaches the US. Initial enthusiasm peaks and falls as news spreads of increased complications and several deaths. Many of the deaths related to Board Certified Plastic Surgeons combining liposuction with abdominoplasty "tummy tucks."
1985	Dr. Jeffrey Klein, a California Dermatologist, and Dr. Patrick Lillis, another Dermatologist, invent and pioneer the Original (Klein) Tumescent Technique, the safest method known.
1993	Dr. Klein publishes his original technique in the prestigious and politically-restrictive JOURNAL of PLASTIC and RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY, November issue. Quite a feat due to the nature of "The Journal."
1995	20/20 and Dateline interview and broadcast Dr. Klein and his methods. Unfortunately, what some doctors have self-modified and inappropriately call "Tumescent Technique" varies greatly with Dr. Klein's Original (and still the best, and safest) Tumescent Technique. Inappropriate modifications of the original technique have harmed patients and even confused authors such as Dr. R. Rao (author of a New England Journal of Medicine article on New York area liposuction) to rethink their terminology and conclusions about categorizing liposuction problems.

The tumescent technique, which permits the local anesthesia (numbing that is confined to a particular area) of large areas of subcutaneous fat, was developed by a California dermatologist (dermatologic surgeon), Jeffrey Klein, M.D., in 1985. Klein first presented his findings in 1986 at the Second World Congress of Liposuction Surgery in Philadelphia, PA. The first scientific publication describing the tumescent technique appeared in the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery in 1988.

Dr. Klein's study, which detailed the benefits of the tumescent technique for liposuction surgery, was published in the well-known, yet "politically exclusive" (meaning the Journal usually restricts authorship to its own members), Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in November of 1993.

Click here to Contact the Author Copyright © 1996 - 2004 PJWMDPA Unauthorized commercial use of the information herein is strictly prohibited. See Antipiracy Measures

Click here to Contact the Author
Copyright © 1996 - 2004 PJWMDPA
Unauthorized commercial use of the information herein is strictly prohibited.
See Antipiracy Measures