Is Tumescent Liposuction safe?

Tumescent liposuction is an excellent method to restore body proportions by reducing excess deposits of fat on the body. Best, Dr. Karamanoukian 

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 surgery and therefore does have some risk, but it is a very safe procedure with an excellent safety profile. Because it is now performed with microcannulas (suctioning straws) entirely under local anesthesia, it is less invasive than traditional liposuction. The biggest risk in surgery is general anesthesia, which can be avoided in tumescent liposculpture because it uses small incisions and very small cannulas. Even safer than tumescent liposuction are the nonsurgical fat-elimination techniques, such as CoolSculpting, Thermi and Vanquish.  Please consult a board-certified dermatologist to find out about your options.

Tumescent liposuction is probably the safest method of liposuction. Tumescent fluid consists of a dilute solution of numbing medicine (lidocaine), epinephrine (prevents bleeding), and sterile saline. The fluid is placed into the areas first, making the fatty space thicker and exaggerated to allow safe passage of the liposuction cannulas. The epinephrine constricts blood vessels and prevents bleeding. The saline is hydrating. After the instillation of tumescent fluid, liposuction can be performed as safely as possible with the added bonus of patient comfort from the lidocaine. 

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.

Once you eliminate general anesthesia, then the risks with liposuction is minimal. Tumescent lipo under local with the smaller cannulas is so safe and easy to undergo and you get the best results. Sincerely, David Hansen,MD

      There are risks to any surgery, but most of this will depend upon the surgeon you select.  Make sure that the surgeon performs several hundred liposuction procedures, has several hundred positive reviews, and has hundreds of pictures on his website.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA

Tumescent liposuction is very safe. It can be done very safely as an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia with minimal oral sedation. We can avoid the sore throat, the increased risk of pneumonia, and many of the general anesthetic drugs. the incisions are small since smaller cannulas are used. I would suggest meeting with a board certified plastic surgeon who does tumescent liposuction and discuss all your concerns.

While there is no medical procedure that is 100% safe, tumescent liposuction has a great track record of being one of the safest cosmetic procedures. This is mostly due to the lack of general anesthesia.One of the risks of tumescent liposuction is lidocaine toxicity which can be avoided by not exceeding the recommended amount of lidocaine that you body can handle (this is based on weight). Be sure to tell your surgeon about any medical problems because certain conditions (liver disease, bleeding disorders) can raise your risk and are contraindications to doing the procedure.Otherwise, if you are healthy and your surgeon is experienced and capable, you should do great.

Tumescent
liposuction, performed by a skilled board-certified dermatologist or plastic
surgeon is a wonderful procedure that has shown great results for numerous
years. The most important consideration to me is the skill level of the doctor
and the skill level of the staff that he or she uses.