Cosmetic Surgery - PK 'Goldilocks' Anesthesia: All of the Benefits, None of the Risks

Corona del Mar, CA
January 27, 2009

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Barry Friedberg developed the ultra-safe, ultra-comfortable PK anesthesia technique in 1992 and has been successfully educating the public and fellow anesthesiologists about it ever since. Dr. Friedberg has received a Congressional award for PK anesthesia's great safety and usefulness to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Benefits: Patients don't experience nausea, vomiting or grogginess in recovery. With PK anesthesia for cosmetic surgery, patients are never at risk for rare but sometimes fatal complications associated with general anesthesia (GA).

Q: What is PK anesthesia, and how is it different from GA?

A: P is propofol, a sleep drug and anti-oxidant. K is ketamine that keeps the brain from receiving pain signals during surgery. With PK, patients do not hear, feel, or remember the surgery; an experience associated with GA. With PK, postoperative pain is essentially eliminated. GA, which also raises inflammatory markers, merely stupefies the brain, preventing an immediate response during surgery. Postoperative pain tends to remain a problem.

Q: Why is the method of anesthesia so important in cosmetic surgery?

A: Safety! Since no one has to have liposuction, tummy-tucks, or facelifts, there are NO acceptable risks or complications from anesthesia like those well known for GA. PK avoids those risks.

Q: Does PK shorten the recovery period?

A: Yes. Because PK isn't marred by a difficult, groggy waking-up or nausea or vomiting about a third of patients experience with GA, there is significantly less postoperative care.

Q: Ketamine's reputation is not so good with the medical community. Why?

A: Ketamine in former contexts than PK can produce unpredictable hallucinations or dysphorias. With PK, measuring the propofol with a BIS brain activity monitor reproducibly blocks the ketamine side effects, then the ketamine blocks the brain from receiving pain signals. BIS measuring prevents too much or too little propofol, assuring just the right amount is given, which is why I sometimes call PK 'Goldilocks' anesthesia, says Friedberg.

Q: How can patients get their cosmetic surgeons and anesthesiologists to use PK?

A: Try communicating with them. PK has been around for a while - it isn't new - so anyone who provides anesthesia can provide PK. The web site, www.cosmeticsurgeryanesthesia.com, designed for both patients and doctors is the best resource for learning PK.