Epidural with IV Sedation for Tummy Tuck, Will I Wake Up?

Sorry...I never do TT under epidural....but hopefully doctors who do them that way will let you know if they ever see patients "wake up" during surgery....

Thanks for the question. Either anesthesia technique works well, depends on the surgeon's training and preference. In my practice I've been doing tummy tucks with extensive liposuction under IV sedation and epidural anesthesia since 1996 without one untoward event. I prefer this over general anesthesia, since the epidural relaxes the abdominal muscles and I can do a better tightening with improved results. I also use tumescent solution infiltration, since I do extensive liposuction with my tummy tucks and we keep the epidural level at just below the breasts. This allows me to do liposuction around the lower rib cage without the patient feeling it. Also, I find that my patients rarely get nauseated or vomit from this type of anesthesia as opposed to general anesthesia. My patients go home within half hour after completing the surgery and do not require 2-3 hours of recovery as is routine with general anesthesia.