Tummy Tuck and Liposuction. I Woke Up During My Procedure and It was Extremely Painful. Is That Normal?

Question

I just had a tummy tuck done and I woke up in the middle of the surgery. Is that normal because it was very painful and they put me back to sleep and I woke up right when he was sewing me up. Can someone tell me if this is normal?

Tom J. Pousti, MD · Answer

I'm sorry to hear about the experience you've had during tummy tuck surgery. No, it is not &ldquo;normal&rdquo; to wake up during the procedure. Much of what you have experienced may depend on exactly what type of anesthesia was used and who provided it. I would suggest that you discuss this event with your plastic surgeon and/or anesthesiologist to rule out specific issues that may be present in your case. This may be helpful in preventing similar occurrences in the future.

	Best wishes.

Steve Laverson, MD, FACS · Answer

For this reason and others, my choice is to perform abdominoplasty under general anesthesia.  Your situation must be carefully investigated with your anesthesiologist and surgeon.  Believe it or not, some patients have very vivid dreams that they were awake during portions of their procedure, when in fact, this was impossible based on the type of anesthesia administered.  If your procedure was performed under local anesthesia with sedation, then awareness during surgery is possible, although perhaps undesirable.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

I do not know what type of anesthesia that you had, but I commonly do it with general anesthesia, and this has never been  problem for me.

Tummy Tuck and Liposuction. I Woke Up During My Procedure and It was Extremely Painful. Is That Normal?

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Tummy Tuck and Liposuction. I Woke Up During My Procedure and It was Extremely Painful. Is That Normal?

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Everything you need to know about Tummy Tuck

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