Is it normal to be charged an additional $750 for local anesthesia for liposuction?

Question

I was originally given a quote with local anesthesia over the phone. Then, when i was there for a consultation, additional charge was added for local anesthesia. Is it normal to be charged additional $750 for local anesthesia for liposuction? I thought local anesthesia costs are included in the cost quoted and only general/sedation and facility fees are extra?

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear Questionqueen76,
the cost of surgery depends on a lot of factors (type of surgery, number of treated areas, anesthesia fee, surgeon, facility fee, city, etc.). It would be the best to visit or call plastic surgery offices and ask for a price.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Michelle Zweifler, MD · Answer

Liposuction may be performed under straight local anesthesia, local with sedation, or general anesthesia.  Local with IV sedation usually has a separate anesthesia fee.  With plastic surgery, there is often there is a facility fee, in addition to the surgeon's and anesthesia fees.
Fee estimates on the phone may be difficult to determine the actual areas one is treating with liposuction and are best determined in person.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

It The price quote was for the long lasting local anesthetic brand-name drug Exparel then the price quote is normal and typical.

Liposuction typically isn’t that painful to recover from so that expensive drug is not used frequently to help recover from Liposuction

It’s not uncommon for surgeons to separate facility fees anesthesia fee if a substantial cost with an anesthesiologist and the surgeons fee. Everybody does it their own way and how they do it tells you something about who they are.

My kids dentist charged an extra $75 for my kid to breathe nitrous oxide for five minutes while they were cleaning his teeth.

They also charged $25 for wiping fluid gel over the teeth which lasts about as long as the dental office and since fluorine is in toothpaste that gets applied to the teeth every day it adds absolutely nothing.

If you want to keep reading I’ll tell you two stories.

The first is a friend of mine who is not a plastic surgeon but does cosmetic surgery.
 Is training is in ENT or ear nose and throat surgery.

He’s a quite entitled and charming guy who’s fun to hang out with.

During my residency I was trying to figure out how much people charged for their procedures.  I asked this one friend of mine how he decided how much to charge his patients.

He looked me straight in the face and he said I I look at the ring and I look at their shoes and then I give them a fee.   If they don’t flinch I add the facility fee. If they still don’t flinch then I add the anesthesia fee. If they still don’t flinch then I add a supply fee.

Other people post sent all inclusive pictures on their website making it very clear and transparent how much they charge for most procedures.

The second story is more of a joke.

It goes like this.

Where do you hide a five dollar bill from an orthopedic surgeon? you put it in a textbook.

Where do you hide a five dollar bill from a radiologist?   You put it with the patient.

Where do you hide a five dollar bill from a plastic surgeon? you can’t hide a five dollar bill from a plastic surgeon.

All story telling  put aside delivering quality consistent plastic surgery results is more difficult than people believe. The procedure and its results is permanent and irreversible. It’s very important patients take the time to find someone who is very experienced and talented in this procedure.

The process should begin by confirming anyone you’re considering is a board-certified plastic surgeon.

Ideally with at least 10 years of practice under their belts.

The following us a list of general recommendations for those seeking cosmetic surgery. Perhaps you’ll find it useful.

1. I recommend patients avoid traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures. There are of course instances where there is a lack of local talent and traveling to some degree is inevitable. If traveling for the procedure patients should be ready to travel to have the consultation, post operative appointments and follow up should there be issues or complications.
Patients sometimes do not appreciate the importance of in person consultations, that complications do happen or the number of people who have issues with their results or need revisions.

2. Schedule multiple consultations with different providers in your area who seem to have a good reputation for the procedure you’re interested in. Starting with at least five consultations seems like a reasonable number to me.

3. Whenever possible schedule in person consultations.  
4. During in person consultations ask each plastic surgeon to show all of their before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in.

The goal is not to see the best results of their career but to get an idea of what average results look like and get some type of confirmation of how many of these procedures that provider has performed.

Ask to see results that were not as good as the doctor would’ve hoped for and talk about the differences in outcomes.

Honest and experienced providers should have no problems presenting this type of information.

A highly experienced plastic surgeon should have hundreds of before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in. At a minimum at least 20+.

5. Read all the reviews on various physician review websites paying close attention and avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews.  Providers with an abundance of reviews often have aggressive marketing campaigns.

The plastic surgeons I respect most all have the single variable of not having justified negative reviews on their online profiles. 
In my opinion justified negative reviews are far more telling than an abundance of positive reviews.

6. Avoid scheduling for surgery or making a deposit on the day of the consultation.  Give yourself some time to think about the decision and make sure you finished all scheduled consultations before committing to having surgery that will permanently and irreversibly change your body.

When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.

Choosing the right plastic surgeon is the single most important variable to having a positive experience.

7. Don’t go chasing after technology or names of certain equipment. Instead focus all your efforts on finding the most experienced and talented board-certified plastic surgeon.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom, MD

Is it normal to be charged an additional $750 for local anesthesia for liposuction?

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Is it normal to be charged an additional $750 for local anesthesia for liposuction?

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