Do I Need to Be Under General Anesthetic for My Endoscopic Brow Lift and Rhinoplasty?

Dear BrigetteLA
Thanks for your question. The procedures you asked specially in combination are usually done under general anaesthesia. Specially when you need some nasal tip work and cartilage graft. General anaesthesia in young and fit people is usually very safe. You would usually have a pre assessment clinic session when they would check your bloods and make sure you are fit for surgery. You could ask to meet the anaesthetist on that clinic and ask your questions and a good anaesthetist can reassure you and help manage your anxiety. The usual culprit is the fear of unknown and the remedy to that is information which the anaesthetist can provide for you. I hope you find this explanation useful.

I usually perform these procedures under general to ensure the comfort of the patient, but it is possible to perform them with local. I would recommend discussing your options for anesthesia during a consultation with your prospective surgeon. He/she will help determine the best method of anesthesia for you based on your individual needs. Under the care of an experienced board certified anesthesiologist, you will be in good hands. Thank you, and I wish you the best of luck with your surgery!

The browlift can certainly be done under sedation. I prefer a general anesthetic for rhinoplasty but other surgeon's prefer sedation. It can be done safely either way as long as your surgeon and anesthetist work that way regularly.

"Twilight sedation" is possible. This involved deep IV sedation without intubation or general anesthesia. In our office, this is our standard type of anesthesia for nearly all our facial procedures, whether browlift, facelift, or rhinoplasty.

A lot of this depends on the comfort level of the surgeon and/or the anesthesia provider.

Discuss this further with your surgeon. If you like your surgeon, and general anesthesia is what he is comfortable with, then you should not worry about the anesthesia so much. General anesthesia is extremely safe in nearly all cases.

Hi there,

Whilst its possible to do nearly anything under local anaesthesia, for surgery of the scale you're seeking, the risks of local anaesthesia and sedation probably (arguably) outweigh the risks of a general, and the experience will be quite difficult under local for both you and the surgeon.  

Personally, I would not offer you the surgery under local. Too stressful for me, and for you, and I think your airway and safety would be at higher risk of problems than under a general.

If you're fearful of a general, and you are healthy, then your fear is just misplaced.  With today's techniques and monitoring, provided you have a specialist anaesthetist, your risk of major anaesthetic complication is probably about the same as the risk you take travelling in a car. Everything you do has risk.  Many things you already do are more risky than a general anaesthetic.