5. Local anesthetic only
In my practice, I only use local anesthetic in performing any of my surgeries. There are incredible advantages to this approach, and I want to make sure my patients get the very best treatment. Such advantages include:
- Safety: A somewhat worrisome statistic is that 1 in 5,000 liposuctions with general anesthesia have resulted in death. This is far too high. With liposuction under local anesthetic, there have been zero deaths.
- Recovery: When patients are given only local anesthetic, it allows for much more pure fat removal and less bleeding. Additionally, I am careful to remain only in the fat layer with my cannula. Both factors lead to rapid recovery time and minimal discomfort.
- Results: Under local anesthetic, I am able to position the patient in a way that will help me obtain the best possible results. During liposuction, it is critical to avoid poking the skin from underneath, and this is easily prevented with proper patient positioning.
Additionally, patient positioning allows me to see the whole picture, giving me the ability to get the best contour and texture with liposuction.