Tumescent Liposuction, An Overview

If you’re thinking about having traditional liposuction, but the idea of painful recovery, bruising, bleeding and swelling turn you off, consider tumescent liposuction. Because this form of liposuction uses tumescent anesthetic, there is no need for general anesthetic. This eliminates the nausea and sense of drunkenness that most patients feel after liposuction.

Tumescent liposuction involves the combination of traditional liposuction techniques and tumescent anesthesia. In this procedure, the plastic surgeon uses lidocaine and epinephrine. Whereas the lidocaine acts as local anesthetic, the epinephrine reduces bleeding during the surgery through the restriction of the patients capillaries. It is because of this combination that surgeons are able to perform this surgery using a minimal amount of sedatives. Furthermore, because the lidocaine is present in the body several hours after the surgery, the patient has between 12 to 18 hours of pain-free, post-surgical recovery.

Tumescent liposuction begins with the surgeon anesthetizing the patient’s skin through the use of tiny needles. After the skin is completely numb, the surgeon then uses longer needles to anesthetize the subcutaneous fat with the lidocaine and epinephrine solution. It is not uncommon for doctors to give patients a mild sedative such as Valium prior to the surgery. This helps relax and ease patients during the procedure. After the patient is completely numb, the liposuction begins. Through the use of round biopsy punches, small holes called adits are made in the skin. This is where the liposuction microcannulas will enter the body. A microcannula is a thin stainless steel tube of 1mm to 3mm in diameter. Microcannulas are designed to allow for the suction and removal of small amounts of fat.

Once the fat has been removed, so are the microcannulas. Because tumescent liposuction creates such small holes in the body, there is no need for sutures. This speeds up the healing process and greatly reduces the amount of swelling and bruising.

As with any surgical procedure, tumescent liposuction does carry some risks. Patients should still expect some side-effects such as bruising, swelling, and temporary numbness as well as significant drainage. Furthermore, there is a chance that some skin irregularities may result. More serious side-effects may include infection, blood clots and allergic reactions to the anesthesia.