Tumescent Liposuction Results
View successful results of tumescent liposuction patients who have been treated by leading cosmetic surgeons. There are many different forms of liposuction.
Tumescent is a form of infusing saline solution into the area to diminish the blood loss. It is just one variety.
Tumescent liposuction involves injection of fluid which includes numbing medication as well as a medication to decrease bleeding into the fat.
This allows the fat to be removed easier with less blood loss and thus overall increasing the safety of the procedure when compared to traditional liposuction.
What is tumescent liposuction?
Tumescent is a term that describes the infusion of fluid into tissue to make it firmer. The purpose of this in liposuction is to infuse IV fluid plus local anesthetic plus epinephrine to shrink the blood vessels and allow for safer fat removal with less bruising.
Tumescent liposuction is the most common method
Tumescent liposuction is the most common way that liposuction is performed. Prior to the actual liposuction procedure a mixture of saline or lactated ringers solution with a combination of epinephrine (to reduce bleeding), lidocaine (to numb the area), and sodium bicarb (to decrease the acidity of the lidocaine and make the injection more comfortable) is infused into the area to be treated.
After the entire area is injected or “tumesced” the liposuction procedure is begun in a painless and blood free environment.
Tumescent refers to the fact that the tissues are injected with the anesthetic solution until they are hard. This numbs the area and prevents bleeding during the procedure. With liposuction, there are other issues to be considered, such as the cannula size to be used, and whether the liposuction will be suction only or laser/ultrasound assisted.
All liposuction done in the U. S. these days is tumescent liposuction. It entails infusing fluid mixed with medication to constrict blood vessels and local anesthetic for comfort during surgery and after surgery. It is important not to use very large amounts of local anesthetics as toxicity may occur , the peak absorption of local anesthetic is at 12 hours, whe you are home.
Make sure your surgeon understands local anesthetic toxicity and absorption and treatment of each local anesthetic used and not to exceed the recommended dose in the time of surgery.
True tumescent liposuction is performed totally with local anesthesia. This is achieved by infiltrating the area to be treated with large volumes of diluted lidocaine and epinephrine. This “tumescent fluid” protects structures deeper than the fat layer, provides excellent local anesthesia, and minimizes bleeding.
It is the safest method for fat removal. The tumescent technique for liposuction, created by dermatologist Dr. Jeffery Klein, is the most significant advancement in liposuction surgery since liposuction was introduced to this country in the early 1980’s.
Liposuction is done under general anesthesia although there is some infiltration of the fat with the tumescent fluid as this fluid acts to protect structures under the fat and constricts blood vessels so there is less bleeding.
During infiltrating process surgeons slowly inject the tumescent fluid – which is very dilute local lidocaine – to acheive vasoconstriction (no bleeding), numbing and distention of the fat layer for more even removal.
Fluid is slowly pumped through a small cannula until the area is completely filled or tumesced (tumid means swollen).
Lipo vs Tumescent Lipo
They are really the same. The tumescent is somewhat redundant term. Pretty much all liposuction that is done is done by tumescent technique. This means that there is fluid that is infiltrated into the areas that are to have liposuction.
Then the area is aspirated. The fluid contains lidocaine, which helps with postoperative pain and also has epinephrine, which helps decrease the bleeding and bruising.
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