Awake Revision Eyelid Surgery is an exciting procedure that falls under the burgeoning branch of operations known as awake surgeries. Let’s examine awake revision eyelid surgery and its benefits.
Awake Revision Eyelid Surgery and Its Benefits
In awake surgeries, a patient is placed under local anesthesia rather than general. When executed successfully, this can result in a procedure that’s faster, cheaper, oftentimes more effective and requires a shorter recovery period.
If you’re considering undergoing revisional eyelid surgery, otherwise known as revisional blepharoplasty, then consider pursuing this list of reasons that an awake surgery might be the preferable option for your medical care.
Awake Surgery Basics
In awake surgery, a patient is placed under local anesthesia rather than general anesthesia, meaning that they do not lose consciousness during the procedure. That being said, the process remains pain-free in the area of effect of the operation.
Awake surgeries have begun to become more popular with patients and physicians alike due to a variety of reasons.
What Is Revision Eyelid Surgery?
Revision eyelid surgery is a surgery performed to address complaints of a patient’s initial eyelid surgery.
Sometimes patients find themselves dissatisfied with the initial results of their eyelid surgeries. This can happen for a number of complex reasons and is oftentimes the result of work performed by surgeons who perform less-than-adequate work.
What this constitutes, in reality, will change from patient to patient, as there is a wide breadth of possible issues that can arise.
During your revision surgery consultation, you’ll discuss with your physician the specific characteristics of your personal complaints about your initial procedure.
The Awake Surgery Timeline
Generally speaking, an awake eyelid revision surgery takes about two hours to perform from start to finish.
Although the patient does not go under general anesthesia, they remain sedated, so they experience no pain during the operation.
The goal of a blepharoplasty is to tighten the skin and muscles surrounding the face to create a firmer and more youthful appearance. Although two hours is the general timeline for most patients, you may find that yours is either longer or shorter depending on the unique qualities of your medical situation.
In addition, the amount that your original eyelid surgery will need to be modified will also have an impact on how much your original surgery needs to be modified. If there are only minor revisions needed, then it’s possible that your original surgery will be shorter.
Seek Out Board-Certified Surgeons
To ensure that your surgery turns out how you would like and that you receive quality care from a qualified professional, you should always ensure that your surgery is performed by plastic surgeons who are board certified.
This refers to the American Board of Plastic Surgery, or ABPS, which carefully vets individuals with a variety of stringent standards. This exists to ensure that they prove competent by a jury of their peers to perform the delicate and complex work of surgery.
No General Anesthesia Required
One of the main allures of awake surgery is that many people who would not qualify for surgery under general anesthesia due to prohibitive health issues will actually qualify for a local anesthetic procedure.
General anesthesia can prevent a number of people from qualifying for the treatment that they’re seeking. This includes individuals who suffer from the following conditions:
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Kidney Problems
- Sleep Apnea
- And other common health conditions
Awake procedures also typically involve fewer pharmaceutical drugs overall. Since most drugs carry with them potential side effects, using them less increases the chances of avoiding complications.
General anesthesia is also one of the more costly elements of surgery, meaning that avoiding its use can result in a much cheaper procedure overall.
Minimizing the Health Risks Associated with General Anesthesia
Unfortunately, general anesthesia also comes with its own set of possible health complications. Some of these risks can be quite serious and, depending on your medical history, prohibitive.
Some of the health risks associated with general anesthesia include:
- Blood clots
- Heart complications
- Heart attacks
- Memory loss
Given that an awake procedure, generally speaking, can offer similar outcomes to a surgery that utilizes general anesthesia, it should be considered seriously as an alternative by patients who foresee possible complications from receiving general anesthesia.
Shorter Recovery Times
One of the elements of surgery that exacerbates the recovery times of most patients is the application of general anesthesia.
This is because a massive dose of anesthesia sedates the body to the point that it can take quite a bit of rest and recovery to recuperate from the impact made.
On the contrary, utilizing local anesthesia results in a smaller portion of the body sedated, which typically results in faster recovery times.
A Shorter Surgery
Without the need for applying local anesthesia, many patients find that their surgeries take less time in general.
This carries with it a number of benefits, ranging from expediting the healing process in the surgical site to lessening the potential for complications.
Shorter surgeries mean that the physician’s precision over the course of the operation is likely to be greater, as they’ll have less of a chance of becoming fatigued over the course of the operation.
A Refined Surgical Experience
Placing the patient under local rather than general anesthesia can also allow the doctor to focus on the most important part of the surgical process: the surgery itself.
Spending less time on applying anesthesia and more time on the precise elements of surgery can result in a number of advantageous results for both patient and the overall results of the operation.
This proves especially desirable in a revision surgery, where there already exists a focus on correcting elements of a previous surgery that ended up not performed correctly.
Depending on how badly the initial results misapplied, there may exist a higher level of pressure on the revision surgeon to repair a large amount of damage.
Since anesthesia is one of the more expensive elements of a Blepharoplasty, undertaking a surgery that only utilizes local anesthesia can result in an overall more affordable operation.
Avoiding the Use of Narcotics
Awake surgery typically does not involve as much use of narcotics in the post-surgical recovery period. This is another element of awake surgery that can be advantageous depending on the medical history of the patient.
This is because an awake surgery has a shorter recovery period and involves a less intensive recuperation period.
If a patient has a history of addiction or problems with painkiller use, then they will likely find themselves more comfortable will undergoing an awake revision surgery. This occurs due to the lower chance of exposure to a relapse situation.
Less Bruising and Swelling
Another advantage in terms of the recovery period for an awake surgery is that the results typically involve smaller levels of bruising and swelling in the surgical aftermath.
Although not medically important, this can be a big esteem booster for the patient if they are feeling inhibited by the prospect of undergoing surgery due to intimidation surrounding the recovery period.
It also can mean that a patient is able to return to their normal existence faster, setting aside less time to recuperate from their procedure.
Less Scarring
In addition to less bruising and swelling, using a surgery that utilizes local rather than general anesthesia can produce an operation that has less scarring.
This is because utilizing local anesthesia produces less bleeding due to the fact that anesthetic chemicals affect blood flow.
Local anesthesia also results in a less painful recovery period due to the fact that local anesthesia places less stress on the body. This can result in a much more satisfying patient appraisal.
Scheduling a Pre-Surgical Consultation
If you would like to find out if you make a good candidate for an awake revision blepharoplasty, you’ll first have to schedule a pre-surgical consultation with your physician.
In this consultation, you’ll discuss every relevant factor of your upcoming procedure. This includes things like your medical history, family history, and history of surgeries.
It is also your chance to discuss with your physician any concerns or anxieties that you might have concerning your operation.
Given that safety is the highest priority, you shouldn’t hesitate to field whatever relevant information you might have to give your surgeon the strongest idea possible about your aesthetic goals.
Given that you’ll be discussing a revision operation, you should also go into as much detail as possible surrounding the elements of your operation that you weren’t happy with in the first place.
Disclosing these details will give your physician the proper toolset to help you achieve a higher level of satisfaction regarding your revision surgery.
Giving Out the Best Service Available
Taban MD Oculoplastic and its award-winning team of incredible staff routinely serve the greater Los Angeles area with the best surgeries available delivered at reasonable rates. Do you find yourself interested in scheduling a consultation to discuss whether or not a would work for you. Then take a visit to our website for more information on this world-renowned oculoplastic surgeon.