Simply Aesthetic Clinic – Singapore – Dr Christine Cheng

Liposuction is a procedure that is strictly regulated in Singapore. The guidelines came into force in November 2008. The Singapore Medical Council and Ministry of Health has mandated that:

• Doctors wishing to perform liposuctions in their clinics have to be on a special register
• Sedation must be administered/monitored by an Anaesthetist or Registered Staff Nurse with the appropriate training in Anaesthesia
• No obese patients can undergo surgery in a clinic setting
• Maximum fat extraction of 1L per session in clinic operations
• Clinics must have a minimum level of equipment/safety requirements
• Singaporeans requesting liposuction must undergo a 7-Day cool-off period between initial consultation and operation date (no financial commitments can be made during this time)
• Operations to remove fat volumes larger than 1L must be done in a hospital operating theatre
• Hospitals are authorised to grant individual doctors operating rights

We therefore have opted to perform all our liposuction operations at Mount Alvernia Hospital, and have done so since mid 2008. This allows us to complete the operation in a given area at one go, thereby reducing recovery time and cost. We feel that the results are better in this way than staging the surgery. Certainly we will insist on staging the operation if massive fat volumes need to be removed. Although most of our cases are done on a day surgery basis, the availability of inpatient care, if required, is always reassuring.