Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction Could Be Effective

Researchers from Albany Medical College in New York reported in the November 15 edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases that enlargement of the dorsocervical fat pad'commonly called a 'buffalo hump''can be successfully reduced with ultrasonography-assisted liposuction. The process, which is especially effective in removing fat from fibrous areas of the body, uses ultrasound applied from a small tube inserted into the fat tissue to target and liquefy fat cells without affecting surrounding tissues. In 10 patients studied between 1994 and 2002, the size of the hump was at least partially reduced in all cases. Recurrence of the fat deposit, however, was common. Half of the study subjects developed new humps, and two of them underwent a second procedure.