Epinephrine during breast lift surgery: how does this work in preventing blood loss?

Hi and thanks for the great question. Epinephrine is the same as adrenaline which your body produces during the "fight or flight"/startle response, and one of it's many effects it to directly cause contraction and a clamping down of the blood vessels thus decreasing the amount of bleeding during a procedure. It is often used in conjunction with local anesthetic for all types of breast, body and facial surgery to minimize the amount of blood loss during surgery. Since the breast are glandular structures with very robust blood supply, using injected epinephrine before breast reduction surgery is very common.

Dear emyy92,most plastic surgeons use epinephrine in order to reduce bleeding as it contracts blood vessels. In most cases, bleeding caused by breast augmentation is minimal and there is a minimal risk of excessive bleeding. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is often used during breast lift surgery to constrict blood vessels in the surgical area. By constricting blood vessels, epinephrine helps reduce blood loss during the procedure. This can lead to a clearer surgical field for the surgeon and may contribute to faster recovery times for the patient. However, the use of epinephrine should always be carefully monitored by the surgical team to avoid complications.

Epinephrine (aka adrenaline) is a potent "vasoconstrictor," which means it causes blood vessels to narrow in diameter, reducing the rate of blood flow (and increasing the blood pressure, somewhat paradoxically) through the tissues. It basically increases blood vessel resistance, which means that small veins and arteries are less likely to ooze blood into the surgical site while the surgeon works and separates tissues. Injection of local anesthetic with lidocaine and epinephrine is very commonly done; the surgeon may inject just the skin, or may also inject deeper tissues. Excessive bleeding is rare in these cases, though mild blood oozing is not uncommon. Moderate ongoing bleeding can result in a hematoma, and it is rare that life-threatening bleeding can occur. Hematomas, if present, require drainage and usually exploration of the wound to seal any bleeders; this prevents continued blood loss but also protects against infection of the hematoma blood pool and reduces the risk that tension from the hematoma would compromise the blood supply to the skin tissues.

Thank you for your question. The use of lidocaine with epinephrine is very common in plastic surgery.The epinephrine causes vasoconstriction or shrinks the blood vessels such that there is less blood loss. Provided you do not have any reasons to bleed excessively, ie hemophilia, take aspirin actively or have a coagulation factor deficiency, blood loss from the surgery you propose should be minimal. Best wishes, Dr. Morrissey

I suspect most plastic surgeons do that, we have used epinephrine in injections of the tissue preoperatively for many years. It shrinks the little blood vessels. But even without that, the total blood loss from a breast augmantation, at least in my experience, would rarely be more than 1-2 tablespoons, much less than in a standard nosebleed.