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Tumescent Liposuction

Tumescent liposuction has been in use since late 1980’s. The word tumescent means swollen and firm. This technique of liposuction uses local anesthesia to the subcutaneous fat in the targeted area of the body. This process is a very safe technique and there is minimal loss of blood during the surgery. Since only local anesthesia is used, the recovery time is faster. Since fluid is also provided, there is no need for IV fluids.

Depending on the volume of the fat and the clinical requirements, the local anesthetic used is lidocaine, which is the most widely used. Typically the dilution is 5-40 fold dilution of lidocaine. Typically 1 gram of lidocaine with 1 milligram of epinephrine in 1000 milliliters of saline would be administered as the tumescent solution, to the liposuction patient for this procedure.

The undiluted lidocaine and epinephrine can be absorbed in the blood within an hour. The dilution delays the absorption rate to 24 – 36 hours. During this process there is intense constriction of the capillaries. This helps the liposuction to be performed without any blood loss. The older techniques had no such procedures that were followed and the liposuction surgeries required almost autologous infusion of blood. This also helps the operation to be performed even after 10 hours of administering the solution. The solution also helps in providing a significant post operative analgesia even after 24-36 hours of the operation.

The fat is removed by cannula. The cannula is a stainless steel tube that is inserted into the subcutaneous fat through openings known as adits. If the diameter of the cannula is larger than 3mm, sutures may be required to close the skin openings. If the cannula tip is less than 3mm, then these incisions are so small that there is no visible scar after the operation is over. The surgeon doesn’t require sutures to close these openings.

When these adits aren’t closed with sutures, it facilitates the drainage of the blood infused tumescent solution from the body. The patient faces less swelling and bruising in the body and recovers faster. When the incisions are bigger and sutures are used, the swelling, pain and bruising is more after the liposuction procedure.

When fat is removed too fast or excess fat is removed, it can lead to a dent or sagging of the skin. An experienced liposuction surgeon can control and remove the fat gradually from the body using the cannula. Larger cannula can speed up the fat removal but there is no control on the amount. For this reason, a patient should visit an experienced liposuction doctor s opposed to those who give discounts or are cheaper.