Acts of “adipocyte lysis”
Last year, the Ministry of Health, warned of many serious complications (23 reported cases) linked to acts of “adipocyte lysis”, that is to say the destruction of fatty cells for aesthetic purposes, had asked the Haute Autorité de santé to carry out an assessment of their dangerousness.
Conclusion? “These techniques present a serious danger or a suspicion of serious danger to human health.” A decree has therefore just banned their practice.
What are the techniques targeted by this ban?
These are all “adipocyte lysis” techniques for purely aesthetic purposes, which consist in destroying adipose cells or reducing their number and / or their volume. These are non-invasive methods such as radiofrequency, laser, infrared, localized ultrasound, and invasive techniques: transcutaneous laser without aspiration of fat, injection of chemical agents (mesotherapy products, hypo solutions -osmolar, phosphatidylcholine, sodium deoxycholate) or thermal (carbon dioxide) in adipose tissue. Care that is not considered medical acts.
Is the decision final?
The decree has been applied since April 12, the date of its publication in the “Official Journal”. However, this ban is not immutable. If the promoters of these techniques demonstrate the harmlessness and effectiveness of their method through scientific studies, the HAS could review its assessment at the request of the Ministry of Health. With a view to lifting the ban, if applicable.
Why were these methods considered risky?
Complications, some serious, have been reported.
Invasive techniques, considered dangerous, caused in particular tissue necrosis (cell death) which required surgery and left after-effects. In some cases, they have also been the cause of allergies or bacterial infections requiring treatment with antibiotics.
Non-invasive techniques
– even if the complications reported were foreseeable and slight (redness or temporary pain) – are not synonymous with absence of danger. This may be just the tip of the iceberg. No study indeed proves their harmlessness. As a precaution, it was therefore preferable to ban them as well.
Are we still at risk several months after having resorted to it?
The data show that the complications arose quickly after the procedure: fever, burn, hematoma, pain, etc. However, an infection or an abscess may not appear until a few days after the cosmetic procedure, especially at the injection site. of the product. Finally, since we do not know the impact of these techniques on neighboring cells, we cannot rule out possible long-term effects.
Was there no prior assessment?
As I was telling you, we don’t know much about these techniques, nor about the consequences on fat cells and neighboring cells. Especially since neither the training of the people who practice them, nor the conditions in which they are carried out are framed. In addition, certain products used by injection have been diverted from their initial indication. They therefore do not have a marketing authorization (MA) for an aesthetic indication, that is to say that no study has demonstrated either their effectiveness or their safety in the elimination of fat cells. . This is the case, for example, with phosphatidylcholine (better known as soy lecithin), prescribed in the treatment of pulmonary fatty embolisms, and used as an injection to dissolve fat.
So how do I know if what I’m offered is safe?
You must ask the doctor or the esthetician to explain precisely the mode of action of the technique used or to question the manufacturer of the device concerned by asking for a written response. In case of doubt, and to find out if the method is one of the techniques now prohibited by the decree, you can contact the General Directorate of Health.
What is forbidden, what is allowed
There is no official list of all prohibited techniques. What’s more, their names, each more convoluted than the next, change from one brand or firm to another …
Lipodissolution
Lipotomy®
Morpholiposculpture
Lipodilution
Hydrotomy
Medisculture
And … to sum up, all the methods of “lysis” or lipolysis.
What remains authorizedManual massage and palpate-rolling techniques (Cellu M6),
The draining
The application of acoustic waves (Celluwave)
Adiposculpture (biomechanical dissolution)
Surgical acts (liposuction).
The opinion of Dr Guy Haddad
President of the National Union of Plastic Medicine
“Dangerous technique or incompetence of practitioners, that is the question”
When a facelift is unsuccessful, we blame the practitioner, not the technique. The rare undesirable effects observed following acts of adypocite lysis are more attributable to the incompetence of the person who performed them. I have treated hundreds of patients and all have been satisfied, there has never been a problem. Surgeons on one side and cosmetic groups on the other have used their influence to
to do away with all that could exist as an alternative between surgery and creams.
