Tumescent Liposuction

Our office receives a lot of inquiries as to what types of liposuction Dr. Barlow and his partners perform. The most frequently used method is tumescent liposuction. I have attached a FAQ document from liposuction.com that covers a lot of the questions patients tend to have. Please feel free to call our office if you have questions not covered in this blog.

Thanks,

Laura Dickinson
Patient Coordinator

Tumescent Liposuction

1.) What is the definition of the word tumescent?
The word tumescent means swollen and firm.
2.) What is the tumescent technique?
The tumescent technique for liposuction involves the injection of large volumes of very dilute lidocaine (local anesthetic) and epinephrine (drug that shrinks capillaries) into subcutaneous fat. With the tumescent technique, the volume of dilute lidocaine that is injected into fat is so large that the targeted areas literally become tumescent (swollen and firm). The tumescent technique produces profound and long-lasting local anesthesia of the skin and subcutaneous fat. Tumescent liposuction designates a form of liposuction that uses tumescent local anesthesia.
3.) What is tumescent liposuction?
The word tumescent refers to anything that is swollen and firm. In the tumescent technique for liposuction, a large volume of very dilute solution of local anesthesia (lidocaine and epinephrine) is infiltrated (injected) into the fat beneath the skin, causing the targeted area to become tumescent. The drug epinephrine (adrenaline) provides profound localized vasoconstriction that is virtually eliminates surgical bleeding during tumescent liposuction.
4.) What are the benefits of tumescent liposuction?
As a result of the widespread capillary constriction caused by the epinephrine in the anesthetic solution, there is minimal bleeding during and after surgery.
5.) How much blood is lost during tumescent liposuction?
The tumescent technique is so effective at minimizing blood loss that the jmajority of patients lose approximately 15 to 30 ml (1 to 2 tablespoons) of blood during large volume liposuction. This is the same volume of blood that is taken for routine pre-operative laboratory sutudies. In the days before the advent of the tumescent technique, the biggest risk of liposuction was excessive loss of blood during surgery. In fact, many surgeons required their patients to donate their own blood several weeks before surgery, and the during surgery, the blood would be returned to the patient by transfusion. With the advent of the tumescent technique, blood transfusions are no longer a part of liposuction surgery.
6.) How does the tumescent technique reduce bruising after liposuction?
There are two reasons there is dramatically less bruising with tumescent liposuction than other techniques. First, because there is so little blood loss with the tumescent technique, there is almost no blood that remains beneath the skin to cause bruising after surgery. The second reason for decreased bruising is that with the tumescent technique there is a considerable amount of post-operative drainage of the blood tinged anesthetic solution the first 24 hours following surgery. By allowing this fluid to drain out of the small incision sites, it prevents the build-up under the surface of the skin which could lead to firmness and bruising.