Safety of Liposuction

Liposuction is a very safe procedure when performed using Tumescent Liposuction by Dr. Su. Tumescent liposuction is the newer form of liposuction using only local anesthetic (awake) compared to older traditional liposuction where the patient is put to sleep under general anesthesia. With any surgery there are risks for bleeding, infection, blood clots, and other unforeseen problems. However, with the tumescent liposuction that Dr. Su performs, all of these risks are very rare. The bleeding is minimal and most patients lose much less blood than they would lose during a common blood donation. In fact Dr. Su has only had one patient require a single unit of blood after having surgery. Infections are very rare and occur in less than 1% of Dr. Su's patients. Blood clots are also very rare with tumescent liposuction and fortunately have never occurred with any of Dr. Su's patients.

What you should be aware of however, is that traditional liposuction using general anesthesia is associated with all of the problems listed above at much higher rates. The use of general anesthesia all by itself carries with it significant risks. When someone is put asleep and immobilized, they are then at risk for blood clots occurring in their legs. Surgeons who use general anesthesia also tend to use much larger suction cannulas which are more aggressive and cause more tissue trauma. For this reason, patients having liposuction with general anesthesia ofter have much more bleeding, bruising and soreness afterwards. It is not uncommon for patients having traditional liposuction to need a blood transfusion.