Anesthesia

[ss01]

Hello, I've read some surgery reports and they ALL mention full anesthesia.  Since this surgery is fairly superficial (i.e. no bone-setting, no open-heart, etc.) it would seem to me that it would be doable with only local anesthesia.

It would be less risky and involve less recovery time.  Some people are groggy for WEEKS after a full anesthesia.

I'm wondering if gynecomastia surgery under localized anesthesia is something that happens.  I have a medium case, with about 150cc of matter to be removed on each side.

So, is it done or not?

Thanks!  

[DrBermant]

Hello, I've read some surgery reports and they ALL mention full anesthesia.  Since this surgery is fairly superficial (i.e. no bone-setting, no open-heart, etc.) it would seem to me that it would be doable with only local anesthesia.

It would be less risky and involve less recovery time.  Some people are groggy for WEEKS after a full anesthesia.

I'm wondering if gynecomastia surgery under localized anesthesia is something that happens.  I have a medium case, with about 150cc of matter to be removed on each side.

So, is it done or not?

Thanks!  

I have not needed general anesthesia for my male chest sculpture for many years.  For my patients needing skin alone nipple reduction, I offer local anesthesia alone option.  With tumescent techniques, I have evolved a better system under local with heavy sedation.  Without the sedation, there are just too many possible problems.

Some surgeons use general with tumescent techniques. Some use general alone.  I found that general anesthesia can leave patients with a higher chance of nausea and discomfort after surgery.

Each surgeon has his / her preferences about anesthesia.  I typically use local with heavy sedation.  That is not general anesthesia, but the patient is not awake.  We use medications injected into an IV for this sedation.  That is how we help keep our patients comfortable for most types of gynecomastia chest sculpture.  Sedation itself is an art.  I will use local anesthesia alone when performing actual nipple reduction surgery.

You can look at other posts here in this forum where anesthesia and sedation are discussed:

I prefer to perform tumescent anesthesia with sedation over general anesthesia or local anesthesia alone for most types of male chest sculpture. We take the comfort of our patients very seriously. You can find a number of posts here in this forum where patients describe their anesthesia experiences under this local anesthesia with sedation:

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=display;num=1021397758;start=0#0

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=display;num=1030314533;start=0#0

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=display;num=1037669367;start=4#4

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=14;action=display;num=1052569996;start=0#0

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=14;action=display;num=1062552462;start=0#0

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=14;action=display;num=1065016337;start=4#4

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=14;action=display;num=1073182463;start=4#4

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Chest Sculpture