Dr. Thomas Wright is the medical director of Laser, Lipo and Vein Center. He is one of the first two hundred plus surgeons in the nation to become a diplomat of the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine. Dr. Wright brings a multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach to treating causes of edema from treating venous insufficiency with saphenous ablations to managing lymphedema and lipedema. His comprehensive approach is to first evaluate the venous and lymphatic system with a physical exam and Venous Doppler Ultrasound, which provides invaluable information on the presence of extremity edema and its cause. He has authored and presented several scientific papers on new surgical techniques for the treatment of venous insufficiency and has received several awards and honors for his original research in the treatment of venous insufficiency.
Dr. Wright has a specialized skill set and passion for unique types of liposuction and its derivative surgical procedures such as lipedema reduction surgery, fat transfer and minimally invasive skin tightening. He was trained in tumescent liposuction technique by its originator, Dr. Jeffrey Klein. He trained with several European surgeons on a specialized form of lymph sparing liposuction for the treatment of lipedema. Dr. Wright has performed thousands of tumescent liposuction procedures over the last 15 for both cosmetic problems and to treat the fat storage disorder lipedema with the lymph sparing liposuction. He is actively involved in multiple research studies on lipedema. The studies include one with Washington University to better understand metabolic effects of lipedema. Research with the University of Arizona to better understand the tissue pathology of lipedema. He is also involved in a research project to show the improvements in the quality of life with lymph sparing liposuction on patients with lipedema. Dr Wright has published studies on the safety of tumescent anesthesia, which is used during liposuction and venous ablation. Dr. Wright has developed his own lymphatic sparing surgical technique using micro cannulas to limit any unnecessary injury to the lymphatics during tumescent liposuction. Dr Wright has authored and co-authored multiple peer reviewed papers on the lipedema and related fat disorders. He is a co- author of the US lipedema Standard of Care Guidelines. He authored case reports of lipedema coexisting with anorexia nervosa and lipedema coexisting with malnutrition.
Dr. Wright is Fellow of American Venous and Lymhatic Society. Dr. Wright has received numerous honors, including Election to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, appointment as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. He was awarded a Top Doctor from RealSelf. He is he Vitals recipient of the Patients Choice Award every year from 2010-2018. The AMA awarded him the Physician Recognition with Commendation Award in 2007, 2008,2009, 2012, 2013,2014, and 2015. He was also named Top • Phlebologist, aka, venous and lymphatic specialist, in the Nation by healthcare site HealthTap. He was given a Compassionate Doctor Recognition (2010, 2011,2012, 2014,2016,2017). St Louis Magazine named him as Top Vein Doctor 013 and The Face of Vein Care St. Louis in 2014. He was given an On-Time Doctor Award in 2014,2015, 2017,2018 and a Top 10 Doctor - St Louis Metro Area.
