Report: Liposuction overtakes breast implants as world’s most popular cosmetic surgery

A new report from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) has found that liposuction has overtaken breast implants as the world’s most popular form of cosmetic surgery.

Liposuction, or body contouring, is a surgical procedure that uses a suction technique to remove fat from specific areas of the body, such as the abdomen, hips, thighs, buttocks, arms, or neck.

Gianluca Campiglio, global survey editor and plastic surgeon in Italy, said there was a decline in the demand for breast augmentation amid growing concern about the implants’ links to cancer.

“We noticed an interesting increase in surgical procedures related to so called ‘body contouring’, such as liposuction, which is now ranked as the most common procedure, ahead of breast augmentation for the first time in many years, and also a similar emerging trend for abdominoplasty, thigh lift and buttock augmentation.” the report reads.

“The lower increase in breast augmentation, and related increase in implant removals, also reflects our experience following publication of reports on BIA-ALCL in the preceding year.”

Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a rare type of T-cell lymphoma that can develop in the scar tissue capsule and fluid surrounding a breast implant.

Campiglio said liposuction had more than 1.9 million procedures and saw a 24.8% increase, overtaking breast augmentation by 3.8%.

“The top five most popular surgical procedures remain liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and abdominoplasty,” the report reads.

“The top five non-surgical procedures are botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid, hair removal, skin tightening, and fat reduction.”

The report added that there was also a growing demand for liposuction among men, with eyelid surgery being the most common procedure.

“Face and head procedures increased by 14.8% with eyelid surgery being the most common procedure, and the most popular surgical procedure among men,” the report reads.

“Thigh lift showed the highest growth for all surgical procedures (+53.1%). Buttock lifts and buttock augmentation have also increased by 45.7% and 40.5% respectively since 2017.”

Turkey, Colombia, Mexico, and Thailand were identified as the most popular destinations for patients traveling overseas for cosmetic treatments.

The USA and Brazil, on the other hand, are estimated to have the most plastic surgeons, with more than 30% of the world’s total.

ISAPS, which represents over 5,600 doctors in 117 countries, based its latest survey findings on data collected from over 1,000 cosmetic surgeons.