Liposuction and diabetes type 2 development risk reduction in the obese patient

SummaryObesity is a disabling disease which has gained greater attention worldwide and particularly in the United States. It significantly increases the risk for other diseases such as insulin independent diabetes mellitus also known as diabetes type 2. The most common surgical procedure for obesity is liposuction. It is traditionally performed either as small-volume liposuction or large-volume liposuction, the majority being small-volume liposuction procedures. Large-volume and small-volume liposuction have been clinically shown to improve insulin sensitivity in obese patients thus reducing their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In this paper, evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that liposuction disrupts the pathway that brings about insulin insensitivity in the obese patient. It is proposed that using liposuction in the overall treatment of obesity could lead to an improvement in insulin sensitivity and thus greatly improve the quality of life of the obese patient.