Tumescent liposuction is very safe. It is the standard by which all liposuction is judged. It reduces the bleeding and bruising and gives pain relief for 12 hours after surgery. When combined with general anesthesia, the amount of medication required to keep you asleep is lowered, the benefits of less bleeding and prolonged pain relief are still realized and the most important factor of all, a board certified Anesthesiologist is assign to maintain the safety of the the airway and your vital signs throughout the case. Truly this is the best of both worlds. If a surgeon is offering tumescent liposuction with you awake or with twighlight oral anesthesia you must ask them why. It is likely that they do not have privileges to perform the procedure at their facility with you asleep. The size of the cannulas is determined by the technical considerations about how best to sculpt the fat away. Small cannulas are used in tumescent liposuction when combined with general anesthesia too. The size of the cannulas should not by a sales pitch about the absence of general anesthesia. If this is being sold to you, beware. Check credentials, check where the doctor has been educated and trained, check if they are a surgeon, check if they have privileges to perform the procedure in a hospital, look at their website, evaluate their postoperative photographs, read their reviews, check the state medical board for disciplinary action. Awake liposuction is notoriously performed by under-qualified, under-trained, potentially dangerous doctors who have no formal training in surgery. This is your body, make sure you are in the hands of a board certified plastic surgeon with vast experience and skill in liposuction and a clean record.
Tumescent liposuction is the safest form of liposuction. It has the lowest risk of complications and the local anaesthetic in the tumescent solution helps control postoperative pain longer than other forms of liposuction do.
