General Anasthesia, is It Really That Safe?

I have wanted liposuction for years, and recently went for a consultation. I am SOO READY to do it!, but I am SO SCARED of General anasthesia. (too much greys anatomy I guess). Can someone please give me more detailed information on how it works and why its "so safe". Thank you

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11 Doctor Answers | Asked by Nikki-Ann

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Extensive Research Has Found That It Is Really That Safe

Anesthesia relieves pain, gives you temporary memory loss of the surgery, and reduces anxiety with a combination of special drugs. Common drugs that are administered include propofol, morphine or fentanyl, and Succinylcholine. Related risks are very low. According to current statistics, the risk of death is 1 in 200,000 to 300,000. Other adverse events are also very rare. All cosmetic surgical procedures are attended by your surgeon, nurses and a board certified anesthetist... more

Jerome Edelstein, MD

13 reviews

Toronto Plastic Surgeon

General Anesthesia is Very Safe for Healthy Patients

Statistically the risk of general anesthesia is about the risk of driving to your doctors office. In my more than 25 years of practice performing hundreds of elective surgeries per year I have not had a problem If you have severe medical problems that could increase your risk and you should discuss those problems with your surgeon who can then advise you. However you should also ask if your procedure can be performed under IV sedation or Oral Sedation with local anesthesia instead of... more

General Anasthesia, is It Really That Safe?

It really is very safe nowadays....In almost 20 years I have never had a problem .....ever! Your at a much higher risk driving in your car to the surgery center then having the surgery! And my feeling is that I'm not sure IV sedation is any safer. I review cases on occasion for our medical board and I have seen a number of problems with IV sedation because the patient developed breathing issues and there was no control of the airway or no one noticed....General is very safe more

Is general anesthesia safe

Thanks for your question. General anesthesia is extremely safe when administered by a a board certified anesthesiologist in an acredited surgery center if you are in good health. The risks go up for patients with heart, lung, and neurological diseases. Good luck.

Lipo and anesthesia

Dear potential lipo patient, Unfortunately all surgeries need some kind of anesthesia. There are few anesthesia options for liposuction - Local or so called 'tumescent', general anesthesia and in lower body lipo - epidural or spinal anesthesia. Local anesthesia sound reassuring however the injection is uncomfortable and the anesthesia is not complete and deep which compromises the end result. General anesthesia is the best, because you have no pain during the procedure... more

General anesthesia is really that safe for liposuction

The risk of anesthesia is very safe in an accredited facility administered by a qualified provider. Thousands of patients will have anesthesia daily for many types of procedures in the US without problems. Liposuction can be performed by local only, sedation, of full anesthesia depending on practice preferrences and patient concerns. Some practices will rely on local alone to reduce cost, or perhaps they are not credentialed to work in a hospital operating room such as with dermatologic... more

Safe anesthesia options for liposuction

The first thing to point out is that there are several options for anesthesia with liposuction, and all of them are safe when done on healthy patients and in an accredited surgical facility by a qualified anesthesia provider. Options include tumescent (local numbing only), tumescent plus intravenous sedation (very common and what I most often do), and general. Advocates of tumescent lipo tend to emphasize risks of general anesthesia but it is very possible to get into trouble with tumescent.... more

General anesthesia is somewhat safe but local anesthesia is over 1000 times safer!

There is no doubt that gen. anesthesia can be safe but since often you can get a better result with local anesthesia and be sooooo much safer, it is a little crazy doing lipo by gen anymore. We all did gen anesth 20-30 yrs ago but those of us who specialize in lipo switched to local yrs ago since we can have the patients stand up, turn, and be put in all positions during the lipo procedure so we can get the best results possible with the smaller canulas. Just think, no major nausea post... more

David Hansen, MD

19 reviews

Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon

www.DrDavidHansen.com

General anesthesia risk for cosmetic surgery

Any board certified plastic surgeon that is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and who is abiding by their by-laws will be doing your surgery in an ambulatory surgery Center or hospital that is properly accredited using properly trained anesthesia and nursing staff. I largely use nurse anesthetists, and have for almost 15 years. I have only had to transport 1 patient from my ambulatory surgery Center to the hospital in this timeframe, and this has included... more

General Anesthesia, is It Really That Safe?

General anesthesia in a healthy patient and administered by a board certified anesthesiologist is quite safe. There have been several deaths around the country in patients who had only a local anesthesia administered by the doctor doing liposuction and overdosed the patient with the local. I have been using general anesthesia in my patients for over 20 years for liposuction as well as most other procedures and barring the occasional nausea ( not at all common any more), have had no problems. more

General anesthesia

Television medical dramas are all about the suspension of disbelief. General anesthesia is extremely safe. It should be performed by a board certified anesthesiologist in an accredited facility.