FLYING SQUIRREL SKIN

Patients may also suffer from seroma/hematoma and irregular contouring of the extremity post-surgery, causing a deformed look, even after treatment.

FLYING SQUIRREL SKIN

However, if you compress a leg or an arm with a lot of loose skin, they’ll fold upon themselves and strangle blood flow.” This folding can result in skin necrosis. “Compression is required as part of recovery following the surgery. “Most often, complications from traditional lymphedema liposuction come not from the surgery, but from what happens after,” he says. Rethinking lymphedema liposuction and skin removal The “flying squirrel” patients also reported higher satisfaction with the results. He found that the “flying squirrel” liposuction cohort had significantly fewer occurrences of seroma/hematoma, contour irregularity and skin necrosis. Chen compared patients who had traditional lymphedema liposuction to those who underwent the “flying squirrel” liposuction.

In a paper published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, Dr. The technique involves thorough lymphedema liposuction followed by immediate skin excision – the same kind of skin excision a plastic surgeon performs as part of a cosmetic abdominoplasty, or arm or leg lift. The name comes from the resemblance of the post-liposuction appearance of the skin to the animal when it is in flight. Chen pioneered a procedure called the “flying squirrel” liposuction technique. To address this problem of excess skin after surgery, Dr. By making an incision and removing skin excess, the surgeon gains access to compromised tissue that may not be removable with liposuction.

Flying squirrel