What is the proper handling on a patient after liposuction?

January 6th, 2009

On Monday, I received liposuctions on areas from my armpits and on down to me knees (essentially my back, buttocks, abdomen, sides, inner and outer thighs, anterior thighs, and knees. After completing surgery, I was taken to an aftercare clinic to recuperate where the nurse would pull me upwards out of the bed by my right arm and order me in a stern voice to 'push the rest of your body up using your other arm'. This was very difficult and painful, yet she would not help me despite my protestations. Walking upright was very difficult and placing myself on the toilet was very difficult (she offered me no assistant in that endeavor either). My plan had been to stay at the aftercare facility for two days, but I fled the following morning with the assistance of emergency transportation. My questions regards whether a patient who has just undergone a major surgery should be handled more delicately than I. I felt that the nurse's handling of me post surgery increased my pain level.

Hello tarainpain-ga, What type of liposuction was it? Nenna-GA

It was tumescent liposuction.

Thank you for the clarification. I'll take a look back at this tomorrow and see what I can find for you. Nenna-GA

Hello Tarainpain-ga, I?m sorry to hear you were a bit of pain after your surgery. Hopefully you?re feeling better and we can shed some light on the subject of your recovery. I started out with a great website about the different types of liposuction. http://www.lipoinfo.com/ On their site I found this information about the tumescent technique. It seems to be one of the most widely used and minimally painful methods of liposuction out there. There is no need for general anesthesia which means less complications and recovery time. Some patients get what?s referred to as ?twilight? which is a mild relaxant. ?The tumescent technique utilizes large volumes of natural saline (lightly salted water) solution, containing a precise amounts of a very dilute local anesthetic (specifically and only lidocaine), and adrenaline, which is dispersed into the fatty tissue. The injected area then becomes locally anesthetized?"numbed."? ?After true tumescent liposuction surgery, many patients may get up and walk out of the office without assistance. Most patients are usually back to their regular routine in a couple of days. With the tumescent technique, postoperative (after surgery) discomfort is usually significantly reduced, since the local anesthesia remains in the treated tissue, usually causing numbness that may last for sixteen hours or more after surgery. Patients frequently require only Extra Strength Tylenol or Tylenol with Codeine to control the relatively minor discomfort that may occur after liposuction surgery performed using the tumescent technique.? http://www.lipoinfo.com/chap03.htm From that info, it seems that most patients do not experience much more than a mild discomfort after the liposuction. I see that you had a large area liposuctioned, so I assume much of your body was sore, but nothing compared to the more invasive procedures. There are side effects to liposuction such as bruising, swelling, temporary numbness, and discomfort. The tumescent technique usually only requires Tylenol, Tylenol with Codeine, or another low dose pain reliever to handle post surgery discomfort. http://www.lipoinfo.com/chap13.htm Tumescent surgery also carries the benefit of the anesthesia inside of the injected solution, so ?the tumescent solution usually provides about a day of continuing numbness in the suctioned areas so that patients can move, do chores, etc. Movement and activity help to avoid blood clot formation in the legs. All in all, the safety provided by the tumescent method usually justifies most of the discomfort.? http://www.lipoinfo.com/chap15.htm That right there tells me that the nurses' expectations that you be able to get out of bed, go to the bathroom, and move around by yourself is not an unreasonable request for you after your liposuction. It seems that most people do just fine at moving around after the type of liposuction you had with minimal managed discomfort with a mild pain reliever. I checked some other sights online as well and it seems that this information is echoed by many on tumescent liposuction. The below information is from Dr. Melton?s practice in Chicago, Il. ?Immediately after tumescent liposuction, patients are able to get up and walk around easily (We have never had anyone leave the office in a wheelchair after liposuction). You will need to have someone else drive you home, however. For the rest of that day, you will want to take it easy and relax. But you are not confined to bed. Most patients sleep very well the night after liposuction, probably because it is relieving to have accomplished it. The morning after there is usually some discomfort. Most patients say that once they are up and about, this diminishes significantly. Patients are routinely given a pain medication, but most do not need it or use it.? http://www.drmelton.com/Chicago/Liposuction/What_is_a_typical_recovery_aft/recovery_.html Some information from Dr. Michael Bermant ? A Board Certified Physician from the American Board of Plastic Surgery. ?most patients experience some discomfort that is usually easily managed with some oral medication for a few days.? http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/faq/faq_tumescent_recovery.html ?When liposuction is done totally by local anesthesia, patients can usually depart from the surgical facility within 30 minutes of the completion of surgery. When general anesthesia is employed, then patients usually require one to three hours of post-anesthesia observation before being discharged home.? http://www.liposuction.com/faqs/postop_recovery.php ?Many patients are able to walk out of the office without assistance and get back to their regular routine within a few days. The sooner the patient begins to move around, the faster the healing progresses.? http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=39551 Overall, I don?t think with the type of procedure you had done that the nurse was unreasonable in expecting you to be able to get out of bed and use the restroom with minimal help. Why they may have not had the best ?bedside manner?, it seems that most patients are able to even walk out of the recovery room and go home the same day. It?s also very common to make sure a patient can use the restroom and ambulate on their own, before discharge, without help. I had a major surgery last June myself and while it hurt so badly I screamed and cried, I was expected to get out of bed and use the restroom by my self before I could come home. My nurses were verbally more supportive it sounds like, but the idea was the same. Google search used: tumescent liposuction recovery ://www.google.com/search?q=tumescent+liposuction+recovery&hl=en&lr=&start=10&sa=N I would think if you have any other concerns, please contact the Dr. that performed your procedure or the aftercare clinic, but I don?t think you were put at any risk by the actions taken. It may have been uncomfortable, but it was the best thing for you to help speed up your recovery. Tumescent liposuction is a generally mild procedure as far as liposuction goes. If this answer requires further explanation, please request clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this further. Nenna-GA Google Answers Researcher

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