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How Long Should Surgery Take for Tummy Tuck with Lipo, and What is a Safe Amount of Time to Be Under General Anesthesia?

asked 11 months ago by San Francisco4746
Latest answer by Curtis Wong, MD
Question viewed 306 times
Tags: anesthesia, duration, risk

12 answers to How Long Should Surgery Take for Tummy Tuck with Lipo, and What is a Safe Amount of Time to Be Under General Anesthesia?

Speed kills

There is no prize for being the fastest surgeon it translates to more complications. I have firsthand knoweldge of such a doctor who prides his speed but has the most complications amongst his colleagues. As mentioned, the time varies accordingly to how much has to be done and the averages mentioned are quite realistic (2.5-4 hours). Regardless, it is considered safe to be under for that time period. Your surgeon should be able to guide you through this. If it seems... more

Curtis Wong, MD
Redding Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck and lipo - how long should it take.

How long your surgery takes really depends a lot of your anatomy and how extensive your surgery will be. If you were having several areas treated with lipo, require a position change and are having a full tummy tuck with removal of a lot of excess skin and fat, I would book you for about 5 hours. If you are healthy and there is a good anesthesiologist looking after you, 5 or even 6 or sometimes 7 hours of surgery is very acceptable. Also remember that surgeons... more

Lisa L. Sowder, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

www.sowdermd.com

Tummy tuck and liposuction and anesthesia time

Depending on the size of the patient and the number of areas to be liposuctioned, a tummy tuck with liposuction can take from 2 to 4 hours to perform. This amount of time is well within a safe length of time to be under a general anesthetic. You should check with your regular medical doctor to see if they have any concerns with your having the surgery.

Vincent D. Lepore, MD
San Jose Plastic Surgeon

www.vincentleporemd.com

Surgical Time and Risks

Most good docotrs can perform these combination procedures in under three hours. A simple rule of thumb is that a patients anesthesia risks go up after 4 hours. Any eletive procedure for aesthetic concerns should be under that time limit. Finally, all surgeons feel strong and macho, but any human being cannot be as good at their craft after 4 hours of non-stop surgery.

Robert M. Freund, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Anesthesia time for Tummy Tuck and Liposuction Surgery

The length of the surgery can range between 2-4 hours depending on the patient and the surgeon. It depends on how many areas of liposuction and whether a regular tummy tuck or an extended tummy tuck are being performed. Safety issues also need to be individualized - MUCH depends on the patients past medical history,etc..

Tom J. Pousti, MD
San Diego Plastic Surgeon

www.poustiplasticsurgery.com

Tummy tuck anesthesia time

It usually takes me three to four hours to perform a tummy tuck and liposuction, depending on the size of the case. In general, I prefer to keep my elective surgery cases under six hours of anesthesia, if possible. The quality of the result matters much more than the surgical time.

David Stoker, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

How Long Should Surgery Take for Tummy Tuck with Lipo, and What is a Safe Amount of Time to Be Under General Anesthesia?

Dear San Francisco4746, The length of surgery depends on how much needs to be done, the technique used, and the speed of the surgeon. I prefer to focus on obtaining the best result rather than performing the fastest operation. Having said that, I prefer to keep elective surgery under 6 hours. A tummy tuck with liposuction generally takes 2.5-4 hours. Warmest wishes, Larry Fan, MD

Larry Fan, MD
San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck and anesthesia

There is no one time it takes to do the tummy tuck with suction. With any procedure less than 6 hours would be the goal. For this procedure however an average time would be anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours depending on the surgeon's speed.

David Nicholas Csikai, MD
Jacksonville Plastic Surgeon

Longer surgery can be done safely under the right circumstances

You should select a surgeon who can perform the procedure expeditiously, but most of the surgeons I know who brag about how quickly they can do a surgery are too focused on getting back to their golf game. Of course, the surgeon should be able to make a reasonable estimate of the time required, and none of the other answers to this question constitute "bragging", in my opinion. I am sure that those surgeons are all very careful surgeons. However, two weeks after... more

James Nachbar, MD
Scottsdale Plastic Surgeon

www.plastic.org

Every surgeon has their own speed of surgery but it would be best if elective surgery was less than 6 hours

Quality surgery does not depend on the speed of the surgeon but the attention to detail and refusing to accept less than excellent results. Younger surgeons usually take a bit longer than more experienced surgeons but this is not absolute. I frequently do liposuction of the abdomen and hips, breast augmentation with or with out a lift in conjunction with a abdominal paniculectomy and plication diastasis recti in 5-6 hours. I would not add any further surgery which would make the case... more

Carl W. "Rick" Lentz III, MD
Daytona Beach Plastic Surgeon

Surgery for tummy tuck and lipo

The amount of time to perform a tummy tuck and liposuction is dependent upon the amount of liposuction performed and the surgeon. I usually can perform liposuction and tummy tuck anywhere from 2.5 -4 hours depneding upon the extent of liposuction. If it is just the flanks during a tummy tuck it would take about 2.5 hours.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Time Required For Aesthetic Surgery

The risks for elective surgery do increase somewhat with increases in the length of anesthesia. There is not absolute for the amount of time required for any surgery, but most surgeons will be in the same neighborhood with a given patient. A few surgeons do require excessive lengths of time for different procedures and you should always be aware of the estimated time. If it seems excessive, ask why.