Tumescent anesthesia is one of the major advances in vein surgery.  It was developed by Klein.  It has been used most commonly by dermatologists and plastic surgeons for liposuction.  Recently it has been applied to other procedures including, particularly, vein surgery.

Tumescent means swelling or distention.  When we administer tumescent anesthesia, the tissues are flooded with dilute liquid anesthetic and become distended giving an appearance resembling the outside of an orange.  The French term for this is peau d'orange. The unique feature of tumescent anesthesia is that it involves the use of a very low concentration of local anesthetic.  The large volume of fluid causes vessels to be compressed resulting in minimal bleeding.  The anesthesia achieved by this technique is excellent and has a prolonged duration allowing you to get home long before the anesthesia wears off. Additionally, the post-operative discomfort seems remarkably diminished.

We can do vein stripping , ELT Procedure , or micro-phlebectomy all with tumescent anesthesia.  The really nice feature of tumescent anesthesia is that it eliminates the need for either a general anesthetic or a spinal anesthetic. By avoiding a general anesthetic there is no risk of nausea and vomiting.  By avoiding spinal anesthesia, there is no risk of spinal headache or the inability to walk until the anesthetic wears off. You can have your surgery in our office or the surgery center and avoid both of these possible sources of problems.