Can an arm lift be done using conscious sedation?

Hello, thank you for your question regarding whether you can undergo an arm lift ( brachioplasty) or more accurately, an arm reduction, under local anesthesia.  The short answer is “yes”, an arm reduction can be performed under local anesthesia.  However,  I would NOT advise it. I specialize in arm reduction surgery and have performed thousands of arm reduction procedures.  If you want the arm reduction done under local anesthesia, you will experience pain.  You’ll feel almost every injection of the local anesthetic.  In addition, you may feel the tumescent solution being injected. Tumescent solution is used for arm liposuction.  After that, you may also feel some of the cutting involved to remove excess arms skin.  My patients require a significant amount of arm skin and fat to be removed.  To minimize pain, I inject a lot of tumescent solution and local anesthetic.  Because I inject so much local anesthetic, toxic doses can be quickly reached. Therefore, if a patient can only have an arm reduction done under local anesthesia, I can only do one arm at a time because of the maximum doses of lidocaine involved.  One or two weeks later, then I return and do the other arm.  I don’t think this is optimal, but some patients demand local  anesthesia. My question to you would be why would you want to undergo an arm lift under local anesthesia? First,  arm reduction under local anesthesia takes longer. Second, the recovery period for an arm reduction done under local anesthesia is longer. Third, I believe a staged arm reduction under local anesthesia is more unsafe then undergoing Single stage general anesthesia for bilateral arm  reduction.  I hope that I’ve answered your questions regarding arm lift, brachioplasty, or arm reduction under local anesthesia. If you have any more questions regarding the arm reduction surgery under local anesthesia, please contact my office. When seeking an arm lift or  plastic surgery in general, please seek an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon who is an expert in the field of arm reduction surgery. Travel out of state if you must. Sincerely, Dr.Katzen. (Certified by the American Board of Platic Surgery and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Limited liposuction can be done under local anesthesia.   You do not want to be in pain during the procedure so that the surgeon must stop the procedure or do less than what is necessary.   For this reason, general is a better option for my patients.   I do not use local exclusively unless a small area of liposuction is planned.
Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Los Angeles, CA