A patient asked us whether she could safely undergo breast reduction surgery and liposuction during the same surgical procedure.

I said that it could be safe, but I’d consider the patient’s medical history, habits, and overall fitness.

In a young individual, combining breast reduction with liposuction of about 2000-3000 cc does not necessarily increase operative risk by a large magnitude. However, if the patient has some underlying medical problems, is not physically fit, has excessively large breasts (which can take a longer time to complete), or has a lot of volume for liposuction, then it would be best to stage the procedures.

In that case, we would perform one first, then do the second at a later date, which would keep the overall surgical risk to a minimum.