ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION For centuries, physicians and surgeons have sought after ways to alter body contour. The modern phase of fat removal for contour change began in the late 1970s when Fischer and Fischer reported on their use of a sharp, hollow aspiration tube to extract subcutaneous fat, the forerunner of liposuction. Illouz modified the technique by designing a blunt cannula, and preoperatively injecting hypotonic saline into the tissues to be removed (wet technique). These changes greatly decreased perioperative bleeding, and allowed preservation of adipose septae in which vessels, lymph channels, and nerves survived.
