what are the advantages of having eyelid surgery under local anesthesia
one of the most common fears people have about cosmetic surgery
is the fear of going under anesthesia and not waking up although general anesthesia can be
administered safely there is no debating the common risks and serious complications associated
with general anesthesia in my practice I've developed an approach to eyelid surgery
which allows my patients to avoid the risks and complications associated with general anesthesia
my objective for every patient I treat is to achieve exceptional results to minimize
health risks and to facilitate their recovery these core principles are applied to all the
procedures I perform I'll discuss in more detail my strategy and approach to performing cosmetic
eyelid surgery in my practice without general anesthesia I'm Dr Amiya Prasad I'm a Diplomate
of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery and a fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and
reconstructive surgeon I've been in practice in New York City and Long Island for over 25 years
the path to my performing cosmetic eyelid surgery without general anesthesia began with my residency
after medical school I trained in ophthalmology or eye surgery prior to specialized training in
cosmetic eyelid surgery and general cosmetic surgery in ophthalmology I became familiar
with the use of local anesthesia and sedation for intraocular or eye surgery
in in my subsequent training in oculofacial plastic surgery and in general cosmetic surgery
I asked a simple question if we're able to perform very delicate micro surgery
such as cataract surgery inside the eye without general anesthesia then why can't we offer the
same type of anesthesia for cosmetic surgery around the eye observing procedures such as eyelid
surgery performed under general anesthesia after my residency I often witnessed the unpleasant
side effects of general anesthesia if you were to google most common problems after general
anesthesia you'll see a list of side effects such as nausea and vomiting as well as sore throat
caused by the tube being placed in the windpipe in order for you to breathe additionally you'll also
see difficulty with sleeping and constipation taking it a step further if you were to google
most common complications after general anesthesia you would see such conditions such as blood clots
in the legs which can travel to your lungs as well as other very serious complications
it should make intuitive sense that if you can avoid problems and complications
associated with general anesthesia wouldn't you want to choose a safer option once I completed my
training I decided to develop my own approach to performing eyelid surgery under local anesthesia
with limited iv sedation as needed at the time my initiative was met with a lot of resistance
as I recall some of my senior colleagues at the time being openly critical of me for this pursuit
these doctors seem to think that technical challenges were too great to overcome and that
it was too difficult to perform cosmetic surgery without anything other than general anesthesia
in my opinion they were speaking from a place of inertia and for them general anesthesia was more
convenient for the way they prefer to work I put myself in my patient's place and asked
if you were someone who's related to me would I recommend general anesthesia for
your cosmetic eyelid surgery the answer was no not if there is a less risky or safer option
so how did my anesthetic system affect my patients results I found that avoiding
general anesthesia was not only beneficial for my patients health and recovery but I
also discovered an additional advantage to the way I performed surgery from a technical perspective
i recognized that subtle artistry in technique is more achievable in my hands when the patient's
face is not completely paralyzed by general anesthesia I like to see the face in a more
natural state which local anesthesia allows me to do I will acknowledge that it does take a
certain level of proficiency and efficiency to perform delicate cosmetic eyelid surgery
under local anesthesia with sedation in comparison to general anesthesia using this
approach I perform an extensive range of cosmetic and reconstructive eyelid procedures with local
anesthesia and sedation as needed procedures such as upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty
Asian double eyelid surgery ptosis surgery and eyelid retraction surgery for conditions such
as thyroid eye disease or graves disease i also perform revision surgery for complications of
eyelid surgery performed by other surgeons such as lower eyelid retraction and skin graft surgery
having established the significant reduction in risk and optimization of results let's look at
the recovery experience for my patients the ease of recovery after surgery has been something my
patients are constantly giving us positive feedback about they're delighted to see how
good they feel soon after surgery and how they're able to resume their normal activities so quickly
further they often report having not experienced any pain or discomfort afterwards
this consistent experience at our office motivated us with my team to come up with
the anesthesia experience and we call it light anesthesia where the e stands for ease of recovery
we see our patients routinely one week after eyelid surgery and consistently
observe little to no bruising at that time this means our patients can go back to work
and other activities with minimal to no sign of having had surgery one week prior
as I stated earlier cosmetic procedures are elective procedures which are mostly performed
on people who are in good health or have medical conditions that are well controlled by medication
as such doing as much as I can to reduce risk to your health
is as important as the performance of a technically flawless procedure
i would further add that your recovery should be as fast as possible with little to no discomfort
in summary local anesthesia with a light sedation for eyelid surgery has more than withstood the
test of time and it is why we use this approach every day in our office I hope this information
from my experience helped you if you're interested in recommendations for your individual situation
you may contact us through our websites or call our offices to schedule a consultation thank you