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Tumescent Anesthesia Face Lift?

I would like to know, does any plastic surgeon have experience with this procedure? Any opinions?

Asked 34 months ago by Ajay Ahuja M.D

Tumescent anesthesia is an adjunct to facelifts conducted under sedation

Analogous to tumescent liposuction, tumescent anesthesia assists both the surgical team and the patient by providing additional anesthesia, control of bleeding and decreasing the amount of IV meds administered. My anesthesiologists like the fact that once a patient has received some local anesthesia, they are easier to reblock, if necessary. Unlike lipo, I don't inject 2-3x the volume of local as this would cause a distortion of the surgical field. I use preemptive anesthesia, even in... more

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Lavinia Chong, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Local vs. general anesthesia for facelift procedures

Thanks for your question - Tumescent fluid is a combination of local numbing medicine (typically lidocaine) with epinephrine (adrenaline) which helps constrict blood vessels to reduce bleeding. It was originally used for liposuction procedures but has also become an important part of face lift surgery. The term tumescent refers to the feel of the tissue when it was injected with sufficient quantity of the medication to become somewhat firm. This is a bit of a left over description ...... more

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Steven H. Williams, MD

San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Tumescent anesthesia is a great option for facelift surgery

Tumescent anesthesia has been a significant important technique developed in the 80s by Dr. Joel Klein. It essentially allows for proper anesthesia to the specific area and overall there have been many studies that have shown it to be effective and perhaps even decreased bruising, infection, hematoma formation, recovery, etc. These studies have been with various other surgical treatments such as liposuction and laser resurfacing. For facelift surgery there are few physicians who do the... more

David Q. Santos, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tumescent anesthesia facelift

I am not a big fan of tumescence for facelifting. First it may mask bleeders, and second it is more swollen with liquid and may distort the movement of tissues and skin redraping.

Steven Wallach, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Tumescent technique

Tumescent anesthesia evolved from liposuction surgery. It is particularly helpful when operating in the neck, face and scalp. The goal is to use a low concentration of lidocaine with epinephrine diluted in a large volume of saline. This minimizes lidocaine dose and also allows for excellent hydrodissection and hemostasis with the tumescent. I have seen this technique used alone but I use this in concert with sedation, as patients tend to be more comfortable. There are a few books on... more

Corey S. Maas, MD

San Francisco Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tumescent anesthesia for a facelift--a good option!

Tumescent anesthesia is wide-awake anesthesia--numb, but fully aware. This is a reasonable option for some people undergoing a facelift. Most people, though, would prefer to be somewhat sedated (at least not anxious), so we still do this procedure with an anesthesiologist and an IV to keep you comfortable. You can still be awake, just a bit sleepy. We would still use tumescent fluid to numb the face and to diminish bleeding and bruising.

Carmen Kavali, MD

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

TUMESCENT ANESTHESIA: GOOD FOR FACELIFT & LIPOSUCTION!

Tumescent anesthesia is a wonderful tool used in facelifts and liposuction. Tumescent anesthesia involves the placement of Lidocaine(numbing medication) and adrenaline beneath the area of operation. This does a couple of things: (1) It reduces the the amount of bruising after surgery; (2) reduces the amount of bleeding during surgery; (3) It help reduce the amount anesthesia required to keep the patient asleep and (4) It help in pain control after surgery. It may... more

Earl Stephenson Jr., MD, DDS

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Tumescent Anesthesia Face Lift

Regarding: "Tumescent Anesthesia Face Lift? I would like to know, does any plastic surgeon have experience with this procedure? Any opinions?" Facelifts can be performed under various forms of anesthesia; general or tumescent anesthesia with oral of intravenous sedation. The advantage of the tumescent anesthesia is the numbing solution causes blood vessel constriction making the operation less bloody and the patient does not take on the very small but real risks of... more

Peter A. Aldea, MD

Memphis Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Facelift With Tumescent Anesthesia

I think you will find that quite a few plastic surgeons use tumescent anesthesia during facelift surgery. Tumescence implies that an anesthetic solution is infiltrated (or injected) under the skin surface to do numb the tissues. The solution also contains a certain concentration of adrenaline (epinephrine) that causes the blood vessels to contract thereby minimizing chances of bleeding. The tumescence also helps to 'pre-dissect' the tissue planes, which technically aids in... more

John M. Hilinski, MD

San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tumescent anesthesia works

Tumescent anesthesia is an excellent choice for some facial procedures. It allows the patient to be comfortable and decrease the amount of bleeding during surgery. I would not advocate this for longer procedures. It can be hard to lie still for prolonged periods of time. Good luck.

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Gregory Pippin, MD

New Orleans Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tumescent anesthesia works for facelifts.

Hi. In New York City, we use tumescent local anesthesia together with sedation for facelifts and certain brow lifts. The tumescent technique opens the correct surgical plane, and there is no bleeding.

George J. Beraka, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Tumescent facelifts

Tumescent anesthesia can help in the dissection of tissue planes and can provide local anesthesia for the surgery and can constrict the blood vessels with epinephrine. The problem I have with it is that I am fanatic about stopping bleeding in a facelift and this is more difficult under water which is how you operate in tumescent surgery. I would worry that when the blood vessel constriction wears off after the surgery, vessels that were not properly cauterized will start to bleed and... more

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS

Seattle Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Tumescent anesthesia Face Lift?

Dear M. Ahuja Tumescent anesthesia is helpful with facelifting surgery in many ways 1 improves the plane of dissection 2 reduces post operative bleeding 3 decreases post operative pain Technically it is easy to do and does not add time to the operation- actually reduces the operative time. With Warm Regards, Trevor M Born MD

Trevor M. Born, MD

Toronto Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS

Tumescent anesthesia Facelifts are a great option

Hi Dr. Ahuja, I use tumescent anesthesia for the majority of my facelifts. These are primarily patients with mild-moderate signs of facial aging and overall good skin tone. Typically, the facelifts I do with tumescent are my Custom-lift, Short Scar Facelift, and MACS lifts. I have also incorporated it into any corsett platysmaplastys, neck lifts or lateral brow lifts that I do. I have been very pleased with the anesthesia delivered and comfort and safety profile it provides patients, as well... more