General anesthesia for blepharoplasty?

Although personally I never use general anesthesia for blepharoplasty, it certainly is not wrong to opt for this anesthetic approach. If your surgeon has always done it this way he will not change his personal practice for you. If you trust his aesthetic eye, experience and care, you likely can trust his choice of anesthesia. 

There are so many different way for having facial procedures done that you should not feel forced into doing something you are not comfortable. Surgeons have their own preferences for what works for them to provide the best outcomes in their hands.  A surgeon is unlikely to drastically change their protocols to fit a request such as this. You should be able to find someone good that can perform a blepharoplasty without putting you under general anesthesia- if that is what you want. As you have read from the other comments, there are multiple ways to do this, conscious sedation requires an IV, general anesthesia requires an anesthesiologist. I perform my blepharoplasty whether they are transconjuntival, or subciliary, all under local anesthesia, using some medications given by mouth. So now you have another option for having this done. Get another opinion with another surgeon if you are not comfortable going under general anesthesia and you may find that either you really like your first surgeon and will do whatever they suggest, or that there are other options available that you are willing to pursue. 

We perform most blepharoplasty surgery under  local anesthesia. I don't think general anesthesia is needed for most eyelid surgeries. Talk to your doctor or find someone who will use local anesthesia.

Rountinue upper and lower blepharoplasty can be done under local anesthesia with or without sedation in most patients.  The only discomfort endured is the injections to numb the areas to be worked on.  However, if there are extensive fat pockets to contour or fat to translocate, it may be difficult to keep you comfortable during this.  If you are part way thru the surgery and the local anesthesia is not keeping you comfortable, there is usually not an anesthesiologist waiting to put you to sleep.  Your surgeon likely has good reasons for choosing general anesthesia for your surgery and you should realize it is a very safe option for surgery and there are many medications available to help you deal with any nausea, etc.

I don't think it is needed for uppers.  lowers is a different questions.  For transconj it is possible without general, but the set up needs to be right.  Generally, I would recommend general if the lowers are involved.

Anesthesia choice for eyelid surgery

In great majority of cases eyelids surgery can be performed with properly
administered sedation anesthesia. Of course it requites a surgeon with skills
and knowledge of Periorbital anatomy to properly administered anesthetic into
the tissues. More importantly is that the procedure is performed in a certified
facility, where appropriate equipment, protocols and staff is present.

Almost any eyelid surgery can safely and comfortably be performed under local anesthesia with or without IV sedation, with much quicker recovery. General anesthesia is usually not necessary.  I perform 99% of my eyelid surgeries under local anesthesia with or without sedation. Exceptions include children or uncooperative patients. See an oculoplastic surgeon.

Rare adverse situations do occur with the use of anesthetics.  The operative word here is rare.  However, safety is not the reason for using one type of anesthesia over another.When a surgeon chooses to use general anesthesia for eyelid surgery, it says a great deal regarding their skills and the finesse they bring to their surgery.  Simply when you are under general anesthesia, it is not possible for you to open and close your eyelid during surgery.  This means that the surgeon gives up a tremendous amount of information that is available to assess the effects of surgery as the procedure is being performed.  The loss of this information translated into a loss of control over the precise details of what can be accomplished with blepharoplasty when performed with the patient able to respond to command.  I perform eyelid surgery with my patients able to respond to commands.  Often with the short acting drugs used for sedation, my patients may have no recall of what happened during surgery.  They are very comfortable.  The benefit of the ability to respond to commands is that I can precisely monitor the effects of surgery and easily adjust the surgery based on this information.  Many eyelid surgeries can also be performed under straight local anesthesia or with an oral dose of valium.  So not only is general anesthesia not necessary, it makes it very difficult to have the level of control needed to obtain the best possible results.  I would encourage you to seek additional consultations to find a surgeon who does not perform eyelid surgery under general anesthesia.  

General anesthesia is reasonable for bleph especially if a lot work is to be performed.  General anesthesia is safe.  Blephs can be performed with local anesthesia or sedation as well.  If you have confidence in your surgeon then you should lean on his judgement.Earl Stephenson, Jr., MD, DDS, FACS

 In our practice, we perform most upper and lower blepharoplasty procedures under general anesthesia. A skin only upper blepharoplasty can be performed under IV sedation or local anesthesia, however when removing the fatty compartments in the upper and lower lids, general anesthesia is required since they are painful during the removal process. For patient safety and comfort it is best  to be placed under general anesthesia, by a board-certified physician anesthesiologist. For many examples, please see  the link below  to our eyelid surgery photo gallery