subject: The Tumescent Liposuction Technique Provided A More Desirable Way To Perform The Surgery [print this page] During the 1980's the liposuction procedure was beginning to confront negative reactions. So a Dr. Jeffrey A. Klein discovered an alternative technique called the tumescent technique. The negative reactions were a result of patients experiencing unnecessary bleeding and unsightly curves of the skin after surgery. This new technique provided a more desirable way of performing the surgery and achieving much more desirable outcomes.
General anesthesia was an unconditional requirement for the first ten years of liposuction performance. A tool called the cannula was the standard tool used during the 1980's. The cannula was a very large needle with a diameter of about 6 to 10 mm. During this time epidural regional anesthesia, heavy IV sedation supplemented with small volumes of local anesthesia were all used to remove the fat from the body. These techniques frequently left a patient with excessive bleeding, prolonged recovery time, and disfiguration of the skin.
The tumescent technique provided for the patients to have the procedure performed with a local anesthetic as opposed to a general anesthetic. The new local anesthetic was made of a combination of lidocaine and epinephrine. The challenging part of the discovery was finding the correct dosage for the local anesthetic. A much smaller cannula, called the michrocannula was also invented. The michrocannula had a needle with the diameter of about 2mm.
The word tumescent means to engorge or to fill up with liquid, therefore, for liposuction purposes large volumes of diluted solutions create a local anesthesia which is injected into the subcutaneous fat. This technique became so popular and ground braking because it practically eliminated the need for general anesthesia. It also helped with the problem of excessive blood loss and created less disfiguration of the skin.
Liposuction became a successful source for unwanted fat removal in 1974. A gynecologist from Italy, Dr. Giorgio Fischer was the first to invent the original form of the surgery. Four years later, two French physicians Illouz and Fournier took the liposuction developments to new levels. In 1980, the surgical removal of fat had become a popular procedure in the United States for many individuals.
Liposuction has been a working surgical procedure for about 36 years and many new techniques continue to be invented. Since the tumescent technique was discovered surgeons have continued to polish and refine its effectiveness. Its safety, precision, creating desirable results and recovery time have all been refined and added to over time.
