| Tumescent liposuction involves the surgical removal | | | | mild sedative, such as Valium to help relax them |
| of excess body fat using a combination of traditional | | | | during the procedure. Once the areas to be treated |
| liposuction techniques and tumescent anesthesia. The | | | | are completely numb, the doctor begins the |
| procedure is relatively new to the cosmetic surgery | | | | liposuction. Small holes, called adits, are made in the |
| scene, having come into widespread use in the | | | | skin using round skin biopsy punches to form access |
| 1990's. Tumescent liposuction offers significant | | | | sites for the liposuction microcannulas. A microcannula |
| benefits over traditional liposuction techniques for its | | | | is a very small stainless steel tube, ranging from 1mm |
| ability to minimize post-operative discomfort, curtail | | | | to 3mm in diameter, designed to effectively remove |
| surgical bleeding, and reduce bruising and swelling | | | | small amounts of fat. Fat is suctioned out of the |
| during the recovery period. | | | | body in small tunnels through the microcannula, |
| Tumescent liposuction is unique in that it uses large | | | | leaving the fibrous strands attached to the skin and |
| volumes of a dilute solution of lidocaine, paired with | | | | muscles intact. Once the desired fat has been |
| the drug epinephrine. The lidocaine serves as a local | | | | suctioned out, the microcannulas are removed. Since |
| anesthetic, eliminating the need for patients to go | | | | the adits are such small holes, there is no need for |
| under general anesthesia. The epinephrine serves to | | | | sutures using this method. This actually serves to |
| temporarily restrict capillaries, thereby reducing | | | | speed up the healing process since drainage can |
| bleeding during the surgery. This combination allows | | | | occur via the adits, greatly reducing the amount of |
| surgeons to perform liposuction using minimal | | | | swelling and bruising of the treated areas. |
| amounts of sedatives. The lidocaine is retained in the | | | | Tumescent liposuction, as with any other type of |
| body for several hours after the procedure, giving | | | | surgical procedure, does carry some risks. Patients |
| the patient up to 12 to18+ hours of pain-free | | | | should expect some side-effects from the procedure |
| recovery. The use of tumescent anesthetic also | | | | such as bruising, swelling, and temporary numbness |
| eliminates the drunken feeling felt by many patients | | | | of the treated areas. Significant drainage will occur in |
| after going under general anesthesia, as well as the | | | | areas where adits were formed. Some skin |
| nausea felt by traditional liposuction patients. | | | | irregularities may result from the procedure, though |
| At the start of the procedure, the surgeon | | | | this side-effect is greatly reduced with the use of |
| anesthetizes the skin at select locations using tiny | | | | both the tumescent anesthesia and microcannulas. |
| needles. Once the skin has been numbed, longer | | | | Other, more serious side-effects can include blood |
| needles are used to anesthetize the subcutaneous | | | | clots, infection, and allergic reactions to the |
| fat with large quantities of the dilute lidocaine and | | | | anesthesia. |
| epinephrine solution. Patients are frequently given a | | | | |