Anesthesia Used During a Facelift?

My doctor said he could perform my facelift under local anesthetic and just give me some sedation. I am 42, would general anesthesia be safe for me? I don’t know what is worse – the general anesthesia, or not being fully knocked out.

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71 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

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General anesthesia is preferred

Facelifts can be performed under either a local with sedation or general anesthetic. It is our preference to perform facelifts under general anesthesia for the three-hour duration of the procedure. We employ a board-certified physician/anesthesiologists to monitor the anesthetic, heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen concentration during general anesthesia, making it safer than sedation. In preparing patients for a facelift, local anesthetic is injected into areas of the face and neck to... more

Depends on your health, type of facelift, anxiety level of patient.

Having used both techniques for more than 30 years I only use local anesthesia for the following patient: 1. patients who only require a" minilift " and the idea of surgery does not make them anxious. 2. Patients who medically cannot have general anesthesia, but can have local anesthesia. In these patients I always have an anesthetist to give IV medication to make the injections totally without pain. 3. Someone who absolutely refuses general anesthesia because of fear. For all other patients... more

Toby Mayer, MD

7 reviews

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

Facelift anesthesia depends on your tolerance for discomfort

Almost all modern facelifts are performed with local anesthesia. The question then is only what sedation you administer in addition to the local anesthetic, and who administers it. The options are no sedation, oral sedation alone (i.e. valium), deep intravenous sedation, or a light general anesthetic. When the airway may be compromised, for example by bleeding during surgery, or in a patient with reflux disease, it is usually better to have the patient asleep with a tube protecting their... more

Local with IV sedation yes!

Having performed thousands of facial plastic surgery operations with both general anesthesia and IV sedation I can say with confidence that IV sedation has all the advantages of general anesthesia (patient comfort) and very few of the side effects of general. The main advantages of IV sedation anesthesia are: It does not require putting a breathing tube in the throat It does not require a breathing machine The recovery is much faster There is much less "hang-over" from... more

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

Type of anesthesia best for facelift surgery

General anesthesia and local anesthesia with sedation are both good options for facelift surgery. You should probably stick with your surgeon's preference. When the sedation choice is used, I prefer that a board certified anesthesiologist be present for safety issues. The more important question in my mind is appropriateness of facelift surgery in someone your age. I suggest you attain a second opinion before embarking on surgery.

Local with IV Sedation is the best compromise

The great thing about this website is that a prospective patient can ask a question and receive educated opinions. My opinion is that local anesthesia with sedation provides the best compromise of pain control, relaxation, and safety while allowing the surgeon to work efficiently. I use this technique for most cases (using a CRNA or Anesthesiologist), with the exception of rhinoplasty, where general anesthesia is employed. Can general anesthesia be performed safely? Absolutely. However,... more

Both are O.K., my preference is sedation.

Advantages of general anesthesia: No pain with injections Ease for the surgeon Disadvantages of general anesthesia: Higher risk (arguably) Higher cost in some practices where an in office procedure can be done with sedation but not general anesthesia More nausea associated with general anesthesia Blood pressure can increase on waking which can lead to hematomas The procedure can be done either way and I have and do both. My preference is excellent local anesthesia with sedation for the... more

Local anesthesia with sedation is excellent for facelift

Facelift can be safely and comfortably performed under both sedation, and general anesthesia. Safely is the fey word. My own preferrence has been a local anesthetic with sedation for facelift procedures. The sedation our center provides is a deep or twilight sleep. The medication is "dissociative" or in other words the patient is breathing and responsive though unaware. We have preferred this technique because we have had less nausea than we have with general anesthesia and our... more

Local anesthesia is best and you are still "knocked out" with deep sedation

I perform all facelifts under deep sedation with local anesthesia even though our office surgical facility is also accredited to perform general anesthesia. With local and sedation, you are completely unconscious and it is safer. I don't have to work around a tube in your throat and you wake up more smoothly. For example, a large recent study showed that the only facelift patients who developed pulmonary emboli (very, very few) were those who were done under general anesthesia.So, for... more

Long Lasting Results & Patient Comfort / Safety with Local Anesthesia

I agree with the excellent and comprehensive advice given here. As a Surgeon who has performed over 1,000 Facelifts with local anesthesia (with mild sedation as requested) I wanted to add a few comments. In my experience long lasting and natural looking results are easily accomplished with local anesthesia. I have found over the years that in patients with mild to moderate aging changes, in their 40s and 50s and good overall medical health, equivalent results can be acccomplished with local... more