Liposuction Under Local: A Discussion About Anesthesia

Earlier this month, msnbc.com published a women’s health article titled “Nipped, tucked and wide awake” that investigates low cost cosmetic surgery under local anesthesia. The article is getting attention from those in the cosmetic medical field because it raises awareness about what could be a growing trend in cosmetic surgery.

To understand the issue more clearly, we asked Inland Empire cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jacob Haiavy to answer a few pertinent questions.

When is the right time for local anesthesia, i.e. an awake operation?

Local anesthesia – or better yet – tumescent anesthesia is a recognized method of numbing an area of the body for liposuction or small surgeries.  It has had an excellent safety record when done properly by trained cosmetic surgeons.  On the other hand, local anesthesia is not effective for longer, more extensive surgery cases.  Patients tend to become restless and the effects of anesthesia wear off after a couple of hours.

At Inland cosmetic we perform the majority of the procedures under general anesthesia or IV sedation with an anesthesiologist or a nurse anesthetist supervising and monitoring the patient at all times.  Our patient’s comfort as well as safety is of utmost important to us.  We do a selected number of small procedures under local anesthesia with the patient’s consent.

Is breast augmentation or liposuction being performed under local anesthesia in Rancho Cucamonga and the Inland Empire?

There are physicians in my community that perform liposuction under local anesthesia but I do not know of anyone doing breast augmentations that way.

Outside of California and the United States, the practice of liposuction under local anesthesia is more common. In fact, the majority of liposuction cases in Europe are performed under local anesthesia.