Mesotherapy Not Proven as a Safe Alternative to Liposuction
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Mesotherapy Not Proven as a Safe Alternative to Liposuction
According to a report in the April 15, 2005, Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical publication of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), patients should be wary of mesotherapy until the safety and effectiveness of the procedure can be confirmed. Touted as a nonsurgical alternative to liposuction, mesotherapy involves the injection of medications and plant extracts into layers of fat and connective tissue under the skin.
Although the practice of mesotherapy has been around for decades in Europe, it has only recently been introduced in the United States. There is no standardization in mesotherapy; the types of drugs that are used vary from physician to physician as does the quantity and frequency of injections. Currently, no drug is approved by the FDA for use in mesotherapy.
Recent studies have found that liposuction is the only surgical method that has been proven to safely and effectively remove fat. ASPS statistics show that liposuction was the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure in 2004 with more than 325,000 procedures performed in the United States that year.
(Source: American Society of Plastic Surgeons)
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