FRIDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Liposuction is associated with a significant reduction in triglyceride levels in patients with high or at-risk pre-procedure levels and reduces white blood cell count, but has no significant affect on total or low- or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, according to a study presented at the Annual Conference of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, held from Sept. 23 to 27 in Denver.
Eric Swanson, M.D., of the Swanson Center for Cosmetic & Laser Surgery in Leawood, Kan., and colleagues investigated whether liposuction was associated with triglyceride, cholesterol, and white blood cell levels. Triglyceride and cholesterol levels were assessed in 322 patients undergoing liposuction and/or a tummy tuck, of which 71 percent underwent liposuction only.
The investigators found that in both men and women, the triglyceride levels remained unchanged in patients with normal preoperative triglyceride levels. Patients with elevated, at-risk levels (≥150 mg/dl) experienced a 43 percent reduction in triglyceride levels after surgery. White blood cell counts decreased by an average of 11 percent after liposuction. No significant changes were found in total or low- or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
"The decrease in these [triglyceride] levels after liposuction was surprisingly dramatic, and revealed that the permanent removal of excess fat cells by liposuction has a major impact on circulating levels of triglycerides," Swanson said in a statement.
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