What are my anesthesia options?

Cosmetic surgery differs from non-cosmetic surgery in that it involves only the superficial tissues. The choice of anesthesia options will depend on the preference of the patient, surgeon and anesthesia provider.

Depending on the patient and the surgeon (e.g. a motivated patient and cooperative surgeon) all cosmetic procedures can be performed entirely awake with local anesthesia only.

Most patients prefer to have some alteration of their level of consciousness from wide-awake. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA - www.asahq.org) definition of anesthesia, there is a continuum of the depth of sedation from minimal (anxiolysis) to moderate (conscious) to deep (unconscious) to general anesthesia.