Safety First
With the Tumescent Technique, our patients have never required hospitalization, blood transfusions, nor have there been any infections or other serious complications.
It is also the only technique that, in the hands of an expert surgeon, permits liposuction totally by local anesthesia, avoiding the dangers of general anesthesia, IV sedation and narcotic analgesics.
There are surgeons who prefer to simultaneously use general anesthesia and the tumescent technique (the addition of general anesthesia add significant risk to the surgery). Some surgeons rely on general anesthesia because they do not have the skill to achieve complete anesthesia with the tumescent technique. Others recommend general anesthesia just because they prefer patients to be unconscious. Still others use general anesthesia because it permits liposuction to be completed more rapidly, which allows for more procedures to be done on the same patient and or more patients.
However, the use of general anesthesia ought not to be based on what is most convenient for the surgeon, but rather what is best for the patient. Ultimately, the patient should choose the type of anesthesia.
Tumescent Technique is less painful than general anesthesia
Some patients have had liposuction by another surgeon using general anesthesia prior to having liposuction by the Tumescent Technique. Virtually every one of these patients has said that liposuction by the Tumescent Technique is a dramatically less painful experience that with general anesthesia. With the Tumescent Technique, infiltrating the local anesthesia is associated with minimal discomfort. Once the area has been completely numbed, surgery in the area is essentially painless. In addition, because the local anesthesia persists in the treated area for more than 12 hours, there is no pain immediately after the surgery.
Risks of any surgery
As with any surgical procedure, liposuction is associated with certain common side-effects such as bruising, swelling and temporary numbness. Although irregularities of the skin are possible following liposuction, this side-effect is minimized by the Tumescent Technique. When using larger cannula occasionally there were patients with an irregularity of the skin. Since using micro cannula, noticeable irregularities are very rare.
Because of the slow resolution of post surgical swelling, the ultimate results following liposuction usually require 12 to 16 weeks to become fully apparent. Nevertheless, patients can usually see dramatic improvements within two to four weeks after surgery.
Although the results of liposuction are often quite spectacular, it is not realistic to expect perfection. Liposuction of the thighs, while improving the silhouette, does not necessarily eliminate the subtle “puckering” of the skin that is often referred to as “cellulite.” Liposuction with the Tumescent Technique does reduce the degree of cellulite but it is unlikely to eliminate it.
As judged by current world-wide experience, liposuction is amazingly safe. To the best of our knowledge, there have never been any reported serious complications using the Tumescent Technique for liposuction totally by local anesthesia.
Rare problems that can potentially occur with any surgical procedure include infections, bleeding and nerve injury. The Tumescent Technique minimizes these risks.
Risks of Liposuction
Risks of Liposuction must be well understood by all prospective liposuction patients. This web site emphasizes the need to constantly be aware of safety issues. In order to minimize the risk of liposuction, the patient must be aware of the following facts:
Too much liposuction is an excessive volume of aspirated fat, or an excessive number of areas treated. Excessive surgical trauma (excessive liposuction) is dangerous and is an important cause for serious liposuction complications.
Unrelated surgical procedures on the same day as liposuction are unnecessary. Prolonged exposure to anesthesia is dangerous and is an important cause for serious liposuction complications.
Disfiguring skin irregularities and depressions are frequently the result of the surgeon’s inattention to detail. For example, if a liposuction surgeon attempts to do too much on a single day, and becomes fatigued, the result may be an inattention to detail, and undesirable cosmetic results. The size of the liposuction cannula can influence the smoothness of the skin after liposuction. The use of large cannula tend to create irregularities more commonly than microcannulas (outside diameter less than 3 millimeters). Surgeons who do total-body liposuction tend to use larger cannulas. Dr Wright use only microcannulas, to perform liposuction, this technique is often referred to microliposuction.
