Liposuction, Awake or Asleep?

Thank you for your question. I agree with your surgeon and would recommend parenteral or IV sedation, at a minimum, for five areas of treatment. If you were having 1-2 areas treated, then local anesthesia would likely be adequate for you to be comfortable during the procedure. I would not worry about not being able to stand during the procedure. An experienced surgeon will be able to perform the procedure without you being able to stand, and if you needed a minor revision at a later time, local anesthesia would most likely be adequate for that.   Hope this helps you make your decision. Good Luck!

     Larger volume liposuction or liposuction of multiple areas performed with general anesthesia I feel allows me to get the best results.  If a patient experiences pain or is uncomfortable, the surgery is made more difficult for the patient and the surgeon alike.  In addition, when or if you are flipped to a prone position (on your stomach), having a secure airway is important.  This is difficult to achieve with sedation and local.  Every plastic surgeon has his or her own thoughts on this issue.

It can be done safely either way.  Usually, we use general anesthesia for the larger lipo cases, and local / IV sedation for the smaller ones.  There are pros and cons for both methods, but the results are comparable, and depend more on the surgeon's skill / proficiency rather than the type of anesthesia.