The two options available to clients and surgeons in maintaining a comfortable, safe and painless environment for the tummy-tuck patient, and a controlled setting for the abdominoplasty surgeon performing the body contouring surgery are general anesthesia and intravenous sedation combined with local anesthesia. The advantages of general anesthesia include complete unawareness on the part of the patient during abdominoplasty, a secure airway, and a still, controlled environment for the operating surgeon. The greatest disadvantages are post-operative nausea and vomiting, risks associated with general anesthesia and post-operative lethargy that slows recovery. The advantages to sedation type anesthesia for tummy-tuck surgery are just the reverse of the disadvantages noted for general anesthesia; recovery is faster, nausea and vomiting are minimized, and the systemic risks associated with general anesthesia are abolished. It is not possible to perform abdominoplasty under sedation in all cases, however, the amount of the tissue excised typically dictating whether it may or may not be used.
Jacob Gerzenshtein, MD, FACS,
A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
