The two options available to clients and surgeons in maintaining a comfortable, safe and painless environment for the breast enlargement patient, and a controlled setting for the breast surgeon performing breast enlargement 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 breast implant placement, 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 slow recovery. The advantages to sedation type anesthesia for mammary enlargement 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. Having stated all of this, it is possible that the degree of repairs to be made to breasts that have been previously enlarged may be too extensive to permit revision without general anesthetic.
Jacob Gerzenshtein, MD, FACS,
A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
