alanh_27

Females get very good reductions in tummy size from liposuction,
because all of their tummy fat is sub-dermal.

Guys have most of their belly fat inside the abdominal cavity.

Could it be removed by laparoscopic techniques?

Anyone doing that?

howard mccollister

No and no. The only removeable fat in the abdominal cavity would be the
greater omentum, and that would only represent a small percentage of the
total. The rest is located in the space between the peritoneum and muscle
wall, as well as in the intestinal mesentery -- ie. not removeable.

HMc

alanh_27

"Howard McCollister"

could that be excised during a gastric banding?

so it is structurally like the fat that is between the
skin and the muscle wall, the stuff which is excised routinely
during cosmetic procedures? any reason it could not be
suctioned out without cutting through the peritoneum? the muscle
wall is already completely over-stretched & detoned, and needs a
an abdominoplasty later on anyway.

howard mccollister

Liposuction is cosmetic body contouring. The preperitoneal fat, being
underneath the abdominal muscles, doesn't really affect the body contour and
there is no practical mean yet available to remove that fat. Nor is anyone
likely to try since there's no good reason to do it.

The apple-shaped, beer-belly body habitus seen on many overweight men is due
primarily to fat in the greater omentum and intestinal mesentery. Yes, the
greater omentum could be excised at the time of a laparoscopic gastric
banding, but it adds unnecessary risk and potential complication, and I
don't know anyone who would do it. The point of the banding is weight loss,
so that intraabdominal fat will go away anyway.

Abdominoplasty is removal of skin and subcutaneous tissue only. That
procedure doesn't affect the muscles of the abdominal wall.

HMc

alanh_27

quoting from one of very, very many plastic-surgeon's pages:

"Most commonly, the surgeon will make a long incision from hipbone
to hipbone, just above the pubic area. A second incision is made to
free the navel from surrounding tissue. With partial abdominoplasty,
the incision is much shorter and the navel may not be moved, although
it may be pulled a bit out of shape as the skin is tightened and
stitched.

Next, the surgeon separates the skin from the abdominal wall all the
way up to the ribs and lifts a large skin flap to reveal the vertical
muscles in the abdomen. These muscles are tightened by pulling them
close together and stitching them into their new position. This
provides a firmer abdominal wall and narrows the waistline.

The skin flap then is stretched down and the extra skin is removed. A
new hole if needed is cut for the navel, which is then stitched in
place."