Tumescent Anesthesia Face Lift?

Tumescent anesthesia evolved from liposuction surgery. It is particularly helpful when operating in the neck, face and scalp. The goal is to use a low concentration of lidocaine with epinephrine diluted in a large volume of saline. This minimizes lidocaine dose and also allows for excellent hydrodissection and hemostasis with the tumescent. I have seen this technique used alone but I use this in concert with sedation, as patients tend to be more comfortable. There are a few books on tumescent anesthesia for the face and I've found these to be pretty helpful.

Tumescent anesthesia is a wonderful tool used in facelifts and liposuction.  Tumescent anesthesia involves the placement of Lidocaine(numbing medication) and adrenaline  beneath the area of operation.  This does a couple of things: (1) It reduces the the amount of bruising after surgery; (2) reduces the amount of bleeding during surgery; (3) It help reduce the amount anesthesia required to keep the patient asleep and (4) It help in pain control after surgery.  It may opinion it should be used routinely in facelift surgery.

Dr. ES

I think you will find that quite a few plastic surgeons use tumescent anesthesia during facelift surgery. Tumescence implies that an anesthetic solution is infiltrated (or injected) under the skin surface to do numb the tissues. The solution also contains a certain concentration of adrenaline (epinephrine) that causes the blood vessels to contract thereby minimizing chances of bleeding. The tumescence also helps to 'pre-dissect' the tissue planes, which technically aids in lifting up the skin. Some plastic surgeons choose to do the entire facelift procedure under tumescence and a light sedative anesthetic. Others use tumescence as part of their normal routine for doing facelift surgery under a general anesthetic.