CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) Journal, the leading journal in the field, published the remarkable safety record of propofol ketamine (PK) anesthesia this month - no killer blood clots to the lungs (pulmonary embolism or PE) of the more than 4,000 patients over the past 16 years! This series included several hundred tummy-tuck patients.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090203/LA64906)
PRS published last year that PK's safety record contrasted sharply with general anesthesia (GA) for tummy tuck patients with 23 patient deaths over 5 years. Motionlessness associated with GA is a significant factor for lethal PE, according to The Doctors Company, a medical malpractice insurer founded by plastic surgeons. www.thedoctors.com/risk/specialty/anesthesiology/J4254.asp
Death from cosmetic surgery is never acceptable. www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71223.php
Motionlessness from GA contributes to relaxation believed by many surgeons to be essential to perform a tummy tuck. Along with relaxation comes sludging of blood in the pelvic veins that contributes to the formation of potentially deadly blood clots.
Many other surgeons understand all that is needed to safely perform tummy tucks is adequate local anesthesia. However, injecting the local anesthesia is painful. Most patients do not want to hear, feel or remember their surgery - an experience they associate with GA.
Dr. Barry Friedberg developed the PK intravenous sedation technique to bridge the safety gap between purely local anesthesia (i.e. safest) and GA (i.e. highest, unnecessary and avoidable risk).
Using the BIS to monitor the patient's individual brain response guides precise propofol dosing so the patient is first asleep before the ketamine is given. Then, the local anesthesia can be injected WITHOUT pain. While the patient's body receives adequate local anesthesia, the mind does not hear, feel or remember the experience.
With BIS monitored PK anesthesia the patient gets what she (or he) wants from the GA experience while avoiding the risks of GA.
In addition to avoiding all of the risks of GA, patients report increased satisfaction with PK over their experiences with GA, especially those who have had difficulty waking up or those who have had nausea or vomiting. www.cosmeticsurgeryanesthesia.com/testimonials3.htm
For more information about PK anesthesia or Cosmetic Surgery Anesthesia please visit www.cosmeticsurgeryanesthesia.com
Disclaimer: Dr. Friedberg is not an employee, stockholder or paid consultant of Aspect Medical Systems, Inc., makers of the BIS monitor.
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