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Short- and Long-Term Effects of Abdominal Lipectomy on Weight and Fat Mass in Females: a Systematic Review

Obesity Surgery volume 25, pages 1950–1958 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Adipose tissue is considered as an endocrine organ, which is developed in specific depots, distinguished either as subcutaneous or visceral. Lipectomy, by means of liposuction or abdominoplasty, is a common plastic surgery procedure, which can remove substantial amounts of subcutaneous fat. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of surgical removal of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue on body weight and fat mass in females in the short- and long-term. A systematic review was conducted using a predetermined protocol established according to the Cochrane Handbook’s recommendations. PubMed, Scopus, CENTRAL, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to December 2014. Eligible studies were prospective studies with ≥1 month of follow-up that included female only individuals who underwent lipectomy of the abdominal region and reported on body weight, body mass index (BMI), or fat mass. Ten studies were included in this systematic review with a total of 231 individuals. A significant weight loss and BMI improvement were reported in 4 out of 5 studies with a mean follow-up of 1–2 months, but in none of the 5 studies with a longer follow-up (3–20 months). Fat mass showed a similar to weight change. The risk of bias was low for the two clinical trials but high for the observational studies included in the review. This systematic review revealed only a transient effect of abdominal lipectomy in body fat and weight in women, which fades a few months after the operation. These results corroborate the evidence from experimental and clinical studies, which support fat redistribution and compensatory fat growth, as a result of feedback mechanisms, triggered by fat removal. Additional clinical studies, with adequate follow-up, may further elucidate the long-term effects of abdominal lipectomy in body weight and composition. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42015017564 (www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO)

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the original studies of this review.

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Private practice, Lintheschergasse 3, Zurich, Switzerland

    Konstantinos Seretis

  2. Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Konstantinos Seretis & Efterpi Demiri

  3. Unit of Reproductive Endocrinology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Dimitrios G. Goulis

  4. Laboratory of Biochemistry, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Koliakos

Authors
  1. Konstantinos Seretis
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  2. Dimitrios G. Goulis
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  3. Georgios Koliakos
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  4. Efterpi Demiri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Konstantinos Seretis.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 PRISMA 2009 checklist: effects of abdominal lipectomy on weight and fat mass in females: a systematic review
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Cite this article

Seretis, K., Goulis, D.G., Koliakos, G. et al. Short- and Long-Term Effects of Abdominal Lipectomy on Weight and Fat Mass in Females: a Systematic Review. OBES SURG 25, 1950–1958 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1797-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1797-1

Keywords

  • Lipectomy
  • Abdominoplasty
  • Obesity
  • Plastic surgery
  • Body weight
  • Body mass index