Tummy Tuck With Local Anesthesia

Tummy Tuck With Local Anesthesia, mini tummy tuck with local anesthesia, can you have a tummy tuck with an epidural and Which anesthesia is better for tummy tuck? are the most important questions that people have when they decide to get this surgery performed. This guide will answer some of these questions and also share some insights from other people who have undergone this procedure so that it gives you an idea about what to expect during recovery after tummy tuck surgery.

In this guide, we review the aspects of Tummy Tuck With Local Anesthesia, mini tummy tuck with local anesthesia, can you have a tummy tuck with an epidural, and Which anesthesia is better for tummy tuck?

Tummy Tuck With Local Anesthesia

A tummy tuck is a cosmetic procedure that tightens the skin and muscles of the abdomen. The goal of this procedure is to give you smoother, tighter skin without loose folds or hanging skin.

Tummy tucks improve the contour of the stomach area, flattening and smoothing your skin.

Tummy tuck surgery is used to remove excess skin and fat from the abdomen and tighten the muscles that support the abdominal wall. The procedure can help patients with loose skin, stretch marks and a sagging abdomen. It can also help with hernias, loose muscles and skin.

Tummy tucks can be performed under local or general anesthesia.

A tummy tuck can be performed under local or general anesthesia. When you have a local anesthesia, you are awake for the surgery, but the anesthesiologist will give you medicine to numb your skin and block pain from occurring. Local anesthesia is safer than general anesthesia because it does not put the patient asleep so that they cannot move or respond to painful stimuli. The main reason why patients choose local anesthesia is that they do not want to be unconscious during surgery or have any memory of what happened during their tummy tuck.

Local anesthetic has been used for many years with good results. However, it may not be right for everyone since there are some medical conditions that make patients unable to tolerate general anesthesia safely (elderly patients with heart problems) as well as those who would rather feel awake while having their procedure done (people who are afraid of being unconscious).

Most patients choose to have a tummy tuck while they are still young as it is difficult to maintain a flat stomach as you grow older.

Most patients choose to have a tummy tuck while they are still young as it is difficult to maintain a flat stomach as you grow older. As you age, your skin becomes less elastic and more prone to sagging. A tummy tuck can also be helpful if you were once overweight and now wish to lose some of that excess fat.

Patients should discuss their anatomy, health history, what they hope to achieve with the procedure and their goals for recovery with Dr. Khan prior to surgery.

Before your surgery, you’ll meet with Dr. Khan to discuss your anatomy, health history and goals for recovery. You should also bring any questions or concerns you have about the procedure so that they can be addressed during this time.

A tummy tuck may be right for you if you have moderate amounts of loose abdominal skin.

A tummy tuck is a surgical procedure that removes excess fat and skin from the abdomen and tightens the muscles underneath. It can help patients improve their overall appearance, restore a more youthful shape to their abdomen and give them more confidence.

A tummy tuck often improves:

• The appearance of your belly button by removing any loose skin or scarring around it
• Loose skin on your abdominal wall caused by pregnancy or weight fluctuations
• Muscle separation that resulted from losing fat from the area (excess inner thigh fat deposits) or having undergone liposuction in this area of the body at some point in time

mini tummy tuck with local anesthesia

It surprises many patients who are considering a tummy tuck at my Chicago practice when I explain that I prefer to perform the procedure using local anesthesia with sedation, rather than general anesthesia. Their quizzical looks are understandable because the innovative technique isn’t used by many plastic surgeons.

It is, however, perfectly safe and actually reduces the risk of side effects and complications. A tummy tuck, which tightens abdominal muscles and removes sagging skin and excess fat, is a major surgical procedure. That’s why many people assume it requires general anesthesia.

By using local anesthesia with sedation, patients are not paralyzed, and breathing on their own, but are unaware of the ongoing procedure. The procedure can be performed under conscious sedation or deeper sedation with an anesthesiologist. In either case the safety of the procedure is enhanced. The patient is not paralyzed, and the risk of blood clots is greatly reduced, if not entirely eliminated. Additional advantages of this technique include:

Despite these advantages, patients still need to get plenty of rest after the operation. The first couple of days are still uncomfortable, and most people need to have some restriction in activity for 7-10 days.

can you have a tummy tuck with an epidural

If you are considering a tummy tuck surgery and consult with more than one surgeon, you will likely get differing opinions about what type of anesthesia should be used. Do you need to have a general anesthetic and should the procedure be completed in the hospital setting? Or, is it better to use a deep sedation or even a conscious sedation anesthesia? Do you need an anesthesiologist or are certified nurse anesthetists (cRNAs) safe? The answers to these questions are not always clear and certainly can be debated. Here are my thoughts.

Anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist?

If you talk to a surgeon who routinely uses an anesthesiologist for his/her procedures, you might be told that only an anesthesiologist has the training and knowledge to keep you safe during a tummy tuck. After all, do you really want to take your chances on having a complication by using an anesthesia provider who has less than the maximum amount of schooling and training? You might also be told that there just isn’t any reason to “scrimp” on your safety by trying to save a few dollars by using a nurse anesthetist.

Such statements seem convincing at first, but do they have merit? I can tell you that these statements were given to me as “selling points” by an anesthesiologist group that wanted me to use their services for my surgeries. They told me that even though they charged more for their services, I would more than make up for the extra costs by being able to “sell” the idea that I was providing a safer and more complete service. I could even charge my patients more for the surgeries because I would be easily able to convince them that they were getting a better product.

As a board certified surgeon, I certainly do not want to offer anything less than the best service possible to my patients and I certainly do not want to do anything that would compromise their safety. So I did some research to find the facts. And the facts are that there aren’t many clear facts. In all of my research, I have been unable to find a convincing study that proves that anesthesiologists are safer or provide better anesthesia than cRNAs for outpatient plastic surgery procedures including tummy tucks. Nor could I find studies that prove that cRNAs are better or safer.

There are two facts of which I am certain. One is that there are really good anesthesiologists and there are really good cRNAs. And two is that there are also really marginal anesthesiologists and equally marginal cRNAs. There are anesthesiologists that work almost exclusively in the hospital system and almost always use a general anesthetic. I would not feel very uncomfortable with such a person providing a deep anesthesia for a tummy tuck procedure because they just don’t do it all the time. There are cRNAs that spend almost all of their time providing deep sedation anesthesia in the outpatient setting that I would feel very uncomfortable giving general anesthesia for an open heart surgery because they just don’t do it all of the time. I would never want to minimize the importance of schooling and training, but like many things, schooling and training become less important the farther one gets into their career. At some point in time, it is the daily routine and knowledge gained from hands on experience that really matter most.

So anesthesiologist or cRNA? The answer could be either. I would choose the one that is the best at what they do. And the one that is the safest and most conscientious. I would choose the one that is the most caring and detail-oriented. And the fact is that such a person could either be an anesthesiologist or a cRNA. If you ask me, I would choose either of my two nurse anesthetists because I know their skill set, their attention to detail, their insistence on safety and protocol, and their track record of over 9 years of zero anesthesia complications while working in my operating room.

Is general anesthesia needed?

Just as there are myths spread about differing anesthesia providers, there are also untruths commonly discussed about the type of anesthesia needed to perform a world class tummy tuck surgery. I have often heard that general anesthesia is preferred or even required to complete an effective tummy tuck. Such statements are, of course, mostly made by surgeons who routinely use general anesthesia for their procedures. The basis for their assumption typically references one of the following ideas.

If I were a patient and was told any or all of these statements by a surgeon, I would be rather easily convinced that I needed a general anesthetic. And if any of the above statements were true all of the time, I would agree that general anesthesia would be preferable. But there is little, if any, evidence that these statements are always, if ever, true.

I have been using deep sedation or MAC anesthesia for tummy tuck surgery for 15 years. I purchased a general anesthesia ventilator during my first year in practice because I thought I might need it for tummy tuck surgery, but ended up giving it to a medical team in Africa several years ago because I never used it. The reason I never used it was because I was able to develop a technique for muscle tightening in which the sutures could be placed during a patients natural exhalation with deep sedation that did not compromise how tightly the muscles could be approximated. This technique allows for very effective muscle tightening without unnecessary tension on any individual suture and it does not result in unnecessary post operative discomfort. My patients, almost across the board, report that their post operative discomfort is less than expected even without the need for long acting local anesthetics such as Exparel. And I can report that in my 9 years of private practice doing more than 50 tummy tucks per year, I have never had an airway compromise during a tummy tuck surgery. The above statements simply are not true for all surgeons and certainly do not apply to my practice.

Why could deep sedation be preferable?

There are many surgeons that perform tummy tucks using general anesthesia and many that use deep sedation. I would argue that the type of anesthesia does not affect the end result of the surgery in any measurable way. Many surgeons that use general anesthesia have before and after photos with great results and surgeons that use deep sedation do as well. So why would deep sedation be preferable if the end result is likely the same?

For these reasons, I have exclusively used deep sedation anesthesia for my tummy tuck patients. I strongly feel that I am doing so because it is the safest and most patient friendly method of anesthesia for tummy tuck surgery when given by skilled anesthesia providers.

Which anesthesia is better for tummy tuck?

Deciding to have children and becoming a mother can lead to some of the most rewarding and transformative years of a woman’s life. As exciting as motherhood can be, it can also take a toll on your body. Pregnancy, childbirth and nursing can leave many women feeling insecure about their post-baby bodies.

Often, these women consider mommy makeovers, which use a combination of cosmetic procedures to help fix unwanted changes in the body caused during their childbearing years. One consideration when preparing for a mommy makeover is deciding on the right anesthesia for your procedure.

What options are available

Going under anesthesia can be one of the more anxiety-inducing parts of any surgical procedure. Thanks to anesthesia, you don’t feel discomfort during surgery – and with current technology, anesthesia is incredibly safe. Understanding what your options are and what to expect can help ease your mind.

Anesthesia is a medication that is given under the supervision of a certified anesthesia provider to avoid feeling discomfort during surgery or a medical procedure. Deciding which anesthesia option is best depends on what procedure you are having performed. If the procedure permits it, many people prefer being awake during the procedure, while others insist on not being awake. In the context of a mommy makeover, most procedures will require general anesthesia. However, some less-invasive procedures may be performed with local anesthesia or even no anesthesia at all.

General anesthesia

General anesthesia causes you to be completely unconscious and unable to feel discomfort or remember anything during your surgery. A certified anesthesia provider administers medicine intravenously or by using a mask for inhalation, then once you are unconscious, they constantly monitor your vitals including your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing throughout the surgical procedure.

General anesthesia is optimal for people who do not want to remember a procedure. Procedures that require general anesthesia typically have a longer recovery time right after surgery, since you’ll need some time to emerge from your unconscious state and continued monitoring for a few hours to make sure vitals are stable.

Almost all plastic surgeons will only perform surgical mommy makeover procedures with the patient under general anesthesia. While there are some surgeons who may perform individual surgeries such as breast augmentation or liposuction using just IV sedation with a local anesthetic, a mommy makeover is a more complex surgery involving several areas of the body and as a result, it is safer and more prudent to have the patient under general anesthesia.

IV sedation and local anesthesia

If you really want to avoid general anesthesia, your mommy makeover options most likely will be more limited. Some less-invasive procedures may use IV sedation, also called “twilight sedation” and “conscious sedation,” paired with local anesthesia of the treated area. IV sedation is also administered by a certified anesthesia provider intravenously, but you breathe on your own so there is no need for a breathing tube.

When utilizing IV sedation an individual will be sedated but awake. They should not feel or remember discomfort, and the addition of localized anesthesia should numb the affected area and keep them comfortable during and after surgery. Just like general anesthesia, the anesthesia provider continues to monitor your vitals throughout the procedure.

No anesthesia

As you may well know, there are also a number of completely nonsurgical beauty treatments offered by plastic surgeons these days. You can consider a nonsurgical, no-anesthesia mommy makeover and still be able to achieve noticeable results, with little discomfort and downtime.