ABSTRACT

Cooling or Cooling Down? The cooling power of lipocryolysis machines has been used and abused as a marketing tool. The cooling down capability of a machine is a completely different issue from its tissue cooling capability. Unwitting physicians normally believe that machines are more powerful because they cool down way beyond 0°C. But skin cannot tolerate these freezing temperatures for a long time. Firms use devices like a gel pad or a special cloth that they often characterize as “antifreezing.” Their claims are diverse, but these devices always act as a barrier. Lipocryolysis exchanges temperature between patient and machine by conduction (convection and irradiation are negligible). By using these “antifreezing” devices, heat conduction gets impaired, and thus, machine operational temperature (the temperature to which tissues are exposed) falls into the temperature range allowed by the skin (which is absolutely obvious, mandatory, and the only option we all have).