FAQ: liposuction

No matter how much you exercise or cut calories, you can't change a genetic predisposition for accumulating fat in certain areas. Thanks to modern technology, though, you can walk into a doctor's office and leave two hours later with a more pleasingly contoured figure. But as these guidelines will show, don't look to liposuction as a means of losing significant weight.

Yes. Liposuction does remove fat in targeted areas, though you may regain weight elsewhere after the surgery. With liposuction, in which body fat is literally vacuumed out through a tube inserted through the skin, doctors can remove fat from stubborn areas that don't respond to diet and exercise, such as belly pouches, saddlebags, broad backsides and double chins.

The caveat:

Weight lost as a result of the procedure can and often does come back, though it's less likely to reappear in the spots that were liposuctioned, since fat cells in those areas are actually removed.In one study in Dallas, 43 percent of patients gained weight following liposuction, with 56 percent gaining between 2.5 and 5 kilograms (five and 10 pounds) six months after the surgery. Yet 80 percent of patients were satisfied with the results, probably because their "trouble spots" still looked smaller.

No. As surgery goes, liposuction is relatively safe, but it's not without risks.Two surveys pegged the mortality rate from liposuction during the late 1990s at about 20 per 100,000, or one death for every 5,000 procedures, due to complications such as excessive blood and fluid loss, infection, and blood or fat clots that travelled to the lungs. People who are obese or have other health problems are at greater risk.

Other potential side effects include increased sensitivity or loss of sensation in the treated area, and breast enlargement following liposuction of the abdominal wall. One study found that 40 percent of patients who had liposuction of the abdominal wall experienced spontaneous breast enlargement following the procedure.

Women who want to reduce the weight of their breasts without major surgery or scarring now have the option of liposuction. The procedure can reduce breast size by an average of one cup size, according to one unpublished study. Scars from liposuction are less conspicuous than those from breast reduction, and the surgery takes only a third as long.

Women with a lot of fat tissue in their breasts (this often includes those who've gone through menopause) are better candidates than women who have more glandular tissue than fat tissue (this often includes younger women).

No. Liposuction won't make an obese person thin. In fact, the more fat removed, the more dangers the surgery poses. And it won't get rid of cellulite or stretch marks. The best candidates for the procedure are people who are at or close to a healthy weight but who have fat deposits that haven't responded to diet or exercise. It helps if they have highly elastic skin to prevent post-procedure sagging.