Why do you need 24 hours supervision after liposuction?

Peter. The reason most surgeons recommend supervision for 24 hours after liposuction, is not so much the procedure, it is recovery from anesthesia. Sometimes people can be lightheaded or unsteady on their feet after general anesthesia or even sedation, and the concern is falling when getting up to go to the bathroom or to do other activities. Discuss your concerns with your board-certified plastic surgeon. Good luck.

It is a safety requirement. Patients may feel woozy after surgery and there is a chance of falling. Ask your surgeon if they can recommend someone to care for you for the first 24 hours. Good luck.

Most patients are awake in the recovery room immediately after lipo but remain groggy for a few hours afterward.  Your body make require up to a week to completely eliminate the anesthesia, but most patients will not notice any appreciable effect after the first 24 hours.  For that reason, my patient coordinator maintains a list of nurses and RNAs available to help take care of any of my patients who are unaccompanied.

Report
Liposuction is the suction removal of subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is located just below the surface of the skin and above the muscles and bones. It doesn't remove all of the fat, but it does remove the majority of the fat. The perfect candidate is at or near their ideal body weight and has localized areas of fat that are out of proportion to the rest of the body.  It is not a weight reduction technique. It can be used on any area of the body, but it relies on the skin redraping after the fat is removed. So, if you have loose skin, you may end up with wrinkles or folds after the surgery. Some areas respond better to liposuction than others, the lateral thighs always look nice, the inner thighs and arms, not so much. The tummy depends on how loose the skin was to begin with. It does not remove or improve stretch marks. There are many different terms used for liposuction:
Tumescent liposuctionPower liposuctionLaser liposuctionVaser liposuctionSmart liposuctionUltrasonic liposuctionAnd many, many more. All these techniques vary a little, but the bottom line is that the fat is removed by high powered suction. A small tube or cannula with multiple holes at the end is hooked to a suction device. The cannula is moved rapidly back and forth to remove the fat through very small incisions in the skin. All blood vessels, nerves, muscle, bone and skin is left alone, just the fat is removed. Large amounts of fluid are placed in the subcutaneous fat before the suction begins to reduce bleeding and to numb the skin, this fluid is referred to as tumescent fluid and consists of a balanced salt solution mixed with adrenalin and a local anesthetic. There are 3 choices of anesthesia:
Local anesthesia (the patient is awake)Local with sedation (the patient is given a mild sedation)General anesthetic (the patient is asleep)The choice is based upon an agreement between the patient and the surgeon. Make sure you consult with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who operates in a nationally accredited surgery center and offers board certified anesthesia. If the price you are quoted seems abnormally low, please do your research and find out why, you do not want to be surprised the day of your surgery! Liposuction can be combined with many other procedures; tummy tuck, breast reduction, thigh lift, arm lift, neck lift and is an essential part of a Brazilian Butt lift (this is where the fat comes from!)
All of my patients are treated post operatively with a compression garment that is worn for 2 weeks and 5 Endermologie sessions that start 3-4 weeks after the procedure. Endermologie is a non surgical massage technique that helps to smooth out the results of the surgery to help prevent wrinkling and rippling of the skin. Liposuction is not a very painful procedure and recovery is usually quick. 
Most people are back to work in 3-5 days and back to vigorous exercise in 2 weeks. Of course, if more areas are treated, there will be more pain post operatively and a longer recovery. I was back to work 3 days after my abdominal liposuction and no one knew any better! 
The cost varies not only from city to city, but from patient to patient. The more areas that are treated, the higher the cost. In the midwest, typical liposuction prices varies from $3,000-6,000 total.
Good Luck!

A 24-hour mandatory supervision is usually required by surgeons to make sure that there are no immediate adverse effects of surgeries on patients, and also to make sure that the general anaesthesia have already lost its effect before clients get home. Anaesthesia typically makes you drowsy and light headed, which can result to accidents. Those are some of the reasons why patients are required to stay in clinic for another 24 hours post surgery. If you have any concerns regarding the policies of the clinic you are currently in, the best resource of information would be your board certified plastic surgeon.

liposuction and done with local anesthesia is unique in that we use very large amounts of a numbing agent called lidocaine.  It's safe to use lidocaine and I doses but if too much is he used you could develop lidocaine toxicity which has caused patients to die.  Your blood levels of lidocaine will be the highest 12 hours after the procedure probably about the time most people are going to sleep.  That's not a very good time to be alone in a hotel room should you have symptoms of lidocaine toxicity. Plastic surgeons want the experience to be good for everyone and we do not take particular joy in making things inconvenient. Safety should be first and foremost both in your mind as well as your doctors.  So, always be honest and follow the instructions.  Best, Mats Hagstrom MD

Dear Peter,Hello and thank you for your excellent question. Even though your procedure is performed awake, under local anesthesia, we still use medications that can sedate you enough so that you cannot take care of yourself in an emergency. Thus, we recommend that you have someone stay with you after the procedure. You may want to look into a body contouring procedure that combines both liposuction with laser, radiofrequency (RF), or acoustic therapy to produce the best balance of fat reduction and skin tightening and smoothing for your body type and anatomy. We use a proprietary technique that we call IDEAL Liposuction. First off, all devices and instruments used are FDA-approved. These procedures are usually performed in the office, with only local anesthesia. We typically use Smart / Laser Liposuction or ultrasound to reduce dense, fibrous fat, and stimulate collagen formation; Radiofrequency-based skin tightening to maximize skin contraction; and Ultrasound, RF, or subcision (Z Wave, Venus, Cellfina) to treat cellulite. Patients go home the same day as surgery, do not need any narcotics postop for pain control, and can return to light exercise and work two days after their procedure. In my practice, we select the appropriate treatment for each patient based on their skin quality, amount of fat and surgical goals. It is best to answer your question during a face-to-face evaluation, when you can discuss your goals and expectations for the procedure, and you can have a physical examination to evaluate for that procedure. I recommend that you find a board-certified, or board-eligible plastic surgeon with whom you are comfortable. Be sure to have all of your questions answered during a face-to-face meeting with your surgeon, and review before and after pictures of similar patients whom have had this procedure. If you have any questions, call our office for assistance. Good luck!

Best,

Jon Ver Halen, MD FACS

Harvard educated plastic surgeon

Texas “Top Doc” 2017, 2018

RealSelf100

America’s Top Plastic Surgeons, Consumer’s Research Council, 2010 – 2018

BeautyAdvisor Top Contributor

Liposuction is one of the most dangerous cosmetic procedures, even when done under local anesthesia only. The risk is, in fact, even higher when done under local. There are two reasons for this. First is the anesthesia that is injected into the area for liposuction and usually contains both a numbing agent such as lidocaine and a vasoconstrictor, usually epinephrine. Both of these can be continually absorbed after the end of the procedure for the next 12-24 hours. Both can have significant reaction with the brain and/or heart. Additionally, if you are given oral sedatives during the procedure, these can also cause problems for up to 24 hours. The second problem is the body's reaction following liposuction. After removal of the fat the body fills the space with fluid which comes from the vascular system. This continues for at least 24 hours after the procedure. Loss of this fluid from the vascular system can result in a condition of shock that can lower the blood pressure and cause you to pass out. If the procedure is done under general anesthesia, you usually get this fluid replaced through an IV. The reason you need someone with you is because the effects of both occur gradually and can cause unconsciousness without you being aware. Staying in a hotel room by yourself is, therefore, not safe.