"Awake" Breast Augmentation in Marin County

We do a lot of revision surgery for unhappy patients who had their breast augmentations done elsewhere. The two most common reasons for patients' dissatisfaction include a "plastic" surgeon who is not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and having surgery done under local anesthesia (what some surgeons refer to as "awake" breast augmentation). Here are some comments from patients who had breast augmentation under local anesthesia:

1. "I kept telling the doctor it was excruciating pain. I then felt that I could not breathe. I had a puncture into my chest cavity and my lung "dropped." (pneumothorax). The surgery had to be stopped. I was rushed in a wheelchair to an elevator and pushed across the street to a hospital emergency room where they put a tube inside my chest to remove the air and reinflate my lung."
2. "I felt everything, so they gave me more medication. My oxygen levels went so far down that they had to put a tube down my throat urgently and put me under general anesthesia."
3. "I was told it would be placed under the muscle, but they could not get it under the muscle." (We have heard this from dozens of patients.)
4. "I woke up in the middle of it and had severe pain."

At Plastic Surgery Associates in Santa Rosa our goal is to do breast augmentation well and to do it only once. Our patients have a light general anesthetic with a laryngeal mask (no endotracheal tube). Our surgery lasts about 45 minutes, and our patients recover quickly.

Don't be fooled by statements that the doctor "chooses" to do only local anesthesia for breast augmentation in Santa Rosa or Marin County. That usually means the doctor does not have access to general anesthesia in his office, can't get hospital privileges to do breast augmentation, or cannot get an anesthesiologist to come to his office. The surgeon has not invested in the significant cost required to provide safe anesthesia care for the patient. There can be problems with local anesthesia with sedation just like there can be problems with general anesthesia.

Ask these questions during your consultation:

1. Are you a plastic surgeon?
2. Are you certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery?
3. Is your operating room certified by a national facility?
4. Do you have privileges to do cosmetic breast augmentation at a local hospital?
5. Do you use a board certified physician anesthesiologist?

The answer to all these questions should be an unqualified YES. Experience counts. A certified facility is a safe facility. Learning how to do breast augmentation in weekend courses is now common. Find out when your surgeon began offering cosmetic breast augmentation in his practice. Protect yourself!

If you decide that Plastic Surgery Associates of Santa Rosa and breast augmentation are right for you, or if you require more comprehensive answers to your questions, please call Dr. Canales or Dr. Furnas at (707) 537-2111. At Santa Rosa's Plastic Surgery Associates, conveniently located on Quigg Drive, it doesn't matter if your home is right here in Marin County, Sonoma or Napa, or if you're an out of town patient utilizing the fly-in program, you'll be treated like family... maybe even better.

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