Tumescent Anesthesia Micro-Liposuction
The body fat of an adult tends to increase gradually over the years and by the age of 30 an individual adds fat according to a genetically predetermined pattern. This fat distribution is often resistant to diet and exercise. An example is the fat that appears on the abdomen and hips after pregnancy.
Body Fat that can be removed by liposuction. Men often get a large belly and love handles while women often notice a lower abdominal bulge and a general increase in tummy flab. Both men and women notice more fat desposits under the neck and jowls as well as loose skin.
With a gentle body sculpting technique that invloves Micro-liposuction and liposuction, often called tumescent laser liposuction, you can restore your waist and smooth abdominal bulges so that the stomach is flatter. Furthermore, liposuction tightens the skin so this can significantly change the way your clothes fit and the way you look in a bathing suit. There is always less hanging skin after liposuction than before.
The fat that is removed will NEVER come back. You do not produce more fat cells as an adult so the new silhouette is permanent. When a patient who has undergone micro-liposuction and SmartLlipoTM (laser lipo) they achieve an aesthetically appealing silhouette with a minimum of 50% improvement and most patients get 70-80% improvement. The cosmetic success relies on removing inches not pounds.
By using liposuction patients have a marked acceleration in the rate of healing. Patients are now noticing that bruising is almost entirely absent one week after surgery. In Tumescent Anesthesia Liposuction the tumescent anesthesia technique allows the residual anesthetic solution to drain out very quickly, it not only eliminates bruising, but also lessens inflammation. Because of the significant decrease in swelling, and decrease in inflammation and pain after surgery, patients are able to return to normal physical activities very soon afterwards.
| TUMESCENT LIPO | TRADITIONAL LIPO |
| Local anesthesia | General anesthesia |
| Awake | Asleep on ventilator |
| Very safe | More risks |
| Small cannulas | Larger cannulas |
| Minimal blood loss | Mild/Moderate blood loss |
| Mild bruising | Moderate-severe bruising |
| Mild soreness | Mild/moderate soreness |
| 1-2 days downtime | 1 week downtime |
There is no limitation to physical activity other than what common sense would dictate. Some patients are able to return to jogging, golf, light aerobic exercise within a day or two after surgery. Some patients do find the soreness after surgery more significant than others, but on the average, most patients are quite surprised at how quickly they are able to return to normal activity. Depending on the patient's individual needs, liposculpture can remove very small to very large amounts of fat and the delicate technique can carefully sculpt the body, consistently achieving smooth and even results.
WHAT IS TUMESCENT ANESTHESIA?
This technique is now considered the safest form of micro-liposuction because it allows the removal of large amounts of fat with virtually no blood loss. The tumescent technique has also proven to be less painful, minimizes post operative recovery time, and produces optimal cosmetic results. The tumescent technique uses large volumes of a dilute solution of lidocaine, a local anesthetic, in combination with epinephrine, which temporarily shrinks capillaries, the tiniest of blood vessels.
The local anesthetic used for liposuction is so effective that patients no longer need intravenous (IV) sedation, narcotic analgesics, or general anesthesia. Of the numerous patients who previously had liposuction under general anesthesia and then had tumescent anesthesia Micro-liposuction, virtually every one of these patients has found the tumescent technique to be less painful, to provide better results and to result in more rapid healing and recovery.
VIRTUALLY NO BLOOD LOSS
As a result of the widespread capillary constriction caused by the epinephrine in the anesthetic solution, there is minimal bleeding during and after surgery. Add to this the cauterizing effects of the SmartLipo laser and this becomes a major improvement in the liposuction technique compared to older methods that simply used general or regional anesthesia. A recently completed study of large volume liposuction of 112 patients, each of whom had between 1,500 and 3,400 ml (1.5 quarts to almost 1 gallon) of fat removed using the Tumescent Technique and none required a blood transfusion.
In fact, the average patient lost approximately 15 ml (three teaspoons) of blood. The Tumescent Technique is so effective at minimizing blood loss that the majority of patients with large volume liposuction lose less blood during the surgery than they do at the time of their routine pre-operative blood studies.
DECREASED RISKS OF INFECTION WITH THE TUMESCENT TECHNIQUE
Infections are extremely rare whether or not the technique is that of general anesthesia or local anesthesia; although there have been reports in the medical literature of patients who have had serious infections following liposuction surgery.
In our practice we have never had an infection in over a decade with thousands of procedures. We have several layers of infection control, including the tumescent anesthesia. Lidocaine, the local anesthetic that is used for the Tumescent Technique, kills bacteria. Since the Micro-liposuctioned treated areas receive the local anesthetic and since the anesthetic fluid kills bacteria, infection is extremely rare!
MICRO-LIPOSUCTION
Using extremely thin micro-cannulas (about the thickness of straw or thermometer), we debulk the larger globules of fat from the areas of concern. These micro-cannulas are inserted through tiny holes no bigger than a grain of rice; these tiny holes are so small they do not even require any stitches. The micro-cannulas require a minimal amount of force in order to advance them into the fatty tissue so this surgery is much more gentle. This allows the doctor to control the direction and position of the cannula with much more accuracy. The ultimate result is a greatly reduced risk of inadvertently approaching too close to the undersurface of the skin and unintentionally causing irregularities.
