Should I have the cell saver with my 360 Lipo and BBL?

When undergoing Lipo 360 and BBL, you should not have a significant amount of blood loss where a cell saver is necessary. There are limits on the amount of fluid and fat that can be removed during a BBL and it is important that your surgeon follows that. Be sure that your surgeon is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

Liposuction has the potential of being a bloody operation with significant blood loss. The number one variable that determines blood loss during the procedure is the appropriate use of tumescent solution. This solution is diluted local anesthesia with a drug called Epinephrine. With the introduction of tumescent solution, Liposuction went from a very bloody procedure, often requiring blood transfusions to an almost bloodless procedure.
In order to get the benefits of tumescent solution, it needs to be injected correctly, using correct amounts, meticulous attention to detail and allowing the solution proper time to become effective before starting surgery.
The drug epinephrine takes 15 to 20 minutes before having full affect. Surgeons who are willing to spend the time to meticulously inject proper amount of tumescent solution and give the drug sufficient times to work before starting liposuction will have minimal blood loss during the procedure. Considering that operating room time is very expensive. There is often a temptation to not waste time in the operating room. personally, I perform all liposuction and fat transfer procedures with patients awake using local anesthesia with mild sedation. In order to do the procedure without causing significant discomfort to the patient the proper use of tumescent solution becomes mandatory. In 20 years, I’m doing almost exclusively Liposuction and fat transfer procedures(over 8000 procedures) I’ve never had a patient requires blood transfusion after this operation.
If different approaches are taken and tumescent solutions is not used in an ideal manner, then blood loss can be significant and a cell saver may be appropriate. I suggest you talk to your surgeon about their experience and follow their recommendations.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD