What are my options for anesthesia?

Plastic surgery can be done under general or local anesthesia. If done under general anesthesia, it is most commonly done in a hospital or surgery center where the highest level of safety is assured by the presence of a staff specifically trained to take care of this type of anesthesia.

Most of our procedures are done under local anesthesia, which is commonly done with varying amounts of sedation.  These procedures are typically done in our accredited on-site surgery facility.  You may be given a pill that relaxes you before going into the operating room.  When you go into the operating room, an IV is started, you are connected to monitors, and an intravenous sedative is given that puts you into a very relaxed state.  Local anesthetic, usually Xylocaine, is injected.

When the Tissue Preparation System is used, the local anesthetic, along with an antibiotic, is gently injected into the area of the surgery.  After that, a special external ultrasound is used to disperse the anesthetic and antibiotic into the tissues.  This allows local anesthetic to be used with much less sedation and often reduces the need for general anesthesia.

More information about anesthesia can be found at http://health.howstuffworks.com/anesthesia.htm.