Abdominal: Pertains or relates to the abdomen.

Abdominal Cavity: The cavity or space within the abdominal wall and spine.

Abdominoplasty: See tummy tuck.

Anesthesia: A temporary, and often induced, state of muscle relaxation and loss of consciousness brought about by anesthetic drugs. It facilitates painless performance of medical procedures that would otherwise cause severe pain.

Anesthetic: A drug that puts the patient in a state of anesthesia.

Aspirator: A suction device used to remove fat out of the patient’s body.

Autologous Fat Transfer: The process where fat is harvested from one part of the patient and then it is injected in another part to provide contouring. Prior to the transfer, the fat is purified.

Cannula: A small, hollow tube with bladed inner core used to remove fats from the body. It is inserted into fat tissue via a small incision in the skin and connected to a suction device that helps aspirate fat out of the body.

Cellulite: A condition in which the skin appears to have a dimpled or orange-peel appearance. It is caused by the presence of uneven fat deposits under the skin.

Compression Garment: A piece of clothing the patient is required to wear following liposuction surgery to help reduce bruising and swelling and tighten loose skin.

CoolLipo: A form of laser liposuction specifically designed for use in smaller areas such as the face, chin and neck.

Dry Liposuction: A liposuction technique that does not involve the use of tumescent fluids to break up fat tissues before suctioning them out.

Edema: Commonly known as swelling. It is caused by the build-up of fluid in the tissues.

Embolism: A common complication of liposuction, and surgery in general, that occurs when a blood vessel gets blocked by fat, blood clots, air bubbles, bacteria and any other foreign material.

Epinephrine: A drug that induces constriction or narrowing of blood vessels to minimize bleeding during and after surgery. It is often added in the tumescent solution used in liposuction along with saline solution and the local anesthetic lidocaine.

External ultrasound-assisted liposuction (XUAL): An ultrasonic-assisted liposuction (UAL) where ultrasonic energy is applied externally through the skin. Unlike traditional UAL, XUAL does not require the use of a cannula.

Fat Transfer: See autologous fat transfer.

General Anesthesia: A type of anesthesia that renders the patient completely unconscious so a surgical treatment can be rendered without the patient being awake.

Girdle: A form of compression garment mainly used on the waist area.

Hematoma: A localized swelling brought about by the pooling of blood beneath the skin.

Incision: A cut through the skin made intentionally by a health care professional for the purpose of rendering medical treatment.

Intravenous Sedation: A type of sedation where sedatives, muscle relaxants, anesthesia or the combination of all three are administered through intravenous injection.

Laser: A powerful beam of light used in surgery to cut through and/or seal a tissue.

Laser Liposuction: A liposuction procedure that uses laser energy to melt fat before suctioning it. It also helps reduce bleeding and bruising by sealing blood vessels at the same time. It may produce some skin-tightening effects because the laser induces collagen production.

Lidocaine: Also known as xylocaine. A local anesthetic used to numb tissue in a specific area. Along with epinephrine, it is included in the tumescent solution used in performing liposuction.

LipoLite: A laser liposuction technique that melts fat from deeper layers beneath the skin. The wavelength of the laser allows for minimal invasiveness during the operation.

Lipoplasty: Another term for liposuction.

Liposculpture: Another term for liposuction.

Liposhaver: A cannula that has a sharp cutting edge that is used in liposhaving.

Liposhaving: a process that involves removing fat that lies superficially under the skin using an instrument called a liposhaver.

Liposuction: A popular cosmetic surgical procedure performed to get rid of excess fats from different parts of the body including the chin, arms, abdomen, back, hips, butt, thighs, knees and calves. A hollow metal tube called a cannula is inserted through a small incision in the skin and a suction device is used to suck the fat out. Liposuction comes in many techniques or methods, and you can learn more about them here.

Lipotuck: A cosmetic procedure that combines liposuction with a tummy tuck.

Local Anesthesia: A type of anesthesia that renders numbness only to the area to be operated on by the surgeon.

Necrosis: Tissue death.

Power-Assisted Liposuction (PAL): A type of liposuction that makes use of a special cannula powered by an electric motor. The motor produces a rapid in-and-out movement to the attached cannula helping the surgeon break up fat tissue with much less manual effort.

ProLipo PLUS: A laser liposuction technique that delivers a more precise contouring of the body.

Saline: A solution consisting of water and sodium chloride (a.k.a. table salt).

Sedative: A drug that calms the patient and makes him or her less irritable.

Seroma: A localized swelling caused by the build-up of pale, yellowish fluid underneath the surface of the skin.

Skin necrosis: A condition characterized by the death of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. See necrosis.

SmartLipo: A brand of laser liposuction that uses a SmartLipo laser to melt fat using thermal energy.

Suction-Assisted Liposuction (SAL): The traditional method of liposuction that uses a cannula to break up the fat tissue which will later be removed by suction.

Super Wet Tumescence: Otherwise known as “tumescent liposuction”. A technique that requires an injection of large volumes of tumescent solution made up of saline, epinephrine and lidocaine to make fat tissue swell before breaking it up and suctioning the fat out.

Sutures: A medical device used to hold tissues together after surgery. Sutures close the incision made by the surgeon which allows the surgical wound to heal.

Thromboembolism: A type of embolism where the embolic particle is a thrombus or blood clot.

Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS): A rare but life-threatening complication of liposuction where bacteria releases harmful toxins into the bloodstream during surgery.

Tumescent: This means swelling or swollen. In tumescent liposuction, a tumescent solution is introduced into the fat tissues to facilitate breakdown of fat cells.

Tumescent liposuction: see super wet tumescence.

Tummy Tuck: Also known as abdominoplasty. It is a medical cosmetic procedure performed to make the belly area look firmer. It involves the removal of excess skin and fat and may sometimes include the tightening of the muscles of the abdominal wall. It is often performed alongside liposuction when fat has been suctioned out and the loose skin that results needs to be removed.

Twin-Cannula Assisted Liposuction (TCAL): Involves the use of two cannulas in a tube-within-a-tube fashion. The inner cannula is the one which aspirates the fat tissue.

Ultrasonic Energy: Energy caused by the vibration of moving particles within a medium. It is an energy produced by high-frequency sound waves.

Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction (UAL): A type of liposuction that uses ultrasonic energy to destroy fat cells before they are suctioned out of the body. The surgeon utilizes a special type of cannula that emits ultrasound energy to loosen and weaken the fat tissue.

Visceral Perforation: Refers to the accidental perforation or puncture of organs by the cannula used during liposuction surgery.

Water-Assisted Liposuction: Utilizes pressurized water beams to dislodge fat cells and simultaneously remove them. Water is continually released and almost immediately suctioned by the same cannula so less infiltration solution is required and more gentle fat removal is achieved.