Liposuction of the abdomen is the single most common body site in which fat is surgically extracted. Most people are happy with some reduction of their abdominal fullness with the hope of being as flat as they can possibly be. An overall better abdominal shape is the goal and most patients would define abdominal shaping as seeing a more defined waistline.
But more extreme types of abdominal liposuction do exist and they are predicated on achieving a ‘supernormal’ abdominal result. The best illustration of that concept is abdominal etching. Designed to create a six or eight pack look, horizontal and vertical lines are created through a linear liposuction technique. Mimicking the abdominal wall inscriptions and the inner and outer edges of the rectus abdominus muscle, a properly selected patient can look like that have extremely fit and well toned abs. Some may call it cheating but surgical six pack and eight pack abdominal surgery does exist.
Abdominal etching employs a technique that is the antithesis of what is normally done in liposuction surgery. In order to avoid irregularities and dimpling in traditional liposuction (regardless the type of device used) some thickness of fat needs to be left on the underside of the skin. Abdominal etching is based on doing the opposite…creating a specific linear line of maximal fat removal to create an indentation.
To help remove maximal fat on the underside of the skin in abdominal etching, I have found that a small basket cannula to be very effective. A basket cannula is usually used to break up fat and fibrous tissue. It is a very aggressive cannula tip and is not used for fat extraction. But is aggressive capability due to the basket tip not only removes fat but is used to scrape the underside of the skin. This helps contribute to skin adhesions down to the abdominal fascia to help create well-defined abdominal etch lines.
Another useful abdominal etching technique is compression foam placed at the end of the procedure. Placed in a herring bone pattern with linear strips of foam placed along the etch lines, it helps the skin to stick down along the created indentation lines.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana