Local anaesthesia

Local anaes­the­sia tem­po­r­a­ri­ly swit­ches off pain sen­sa­ti­on in a limi­t­ed area of the body. An anaes­the­tic such as lido­cai­ne is injec­ted into or under the skin or appli­ed as a cream. The pati­ent remains ful­ly con­scious throughout.

Appli­ca­ti­on

It is the stan­dard method for most der­ma­to­lo­gi­cal and many cos­me­tic sur­gi­cal pro­ce­du­res, such as skin can­cer rem­oval, scar revi­si­on or eyelid sur­gery. The solu­ti­on often con­ta­ins a vaso­con­stric­tor that redu­ces blee­ding and pro­longs the effect. For lipo­suc­tion the­re is a spe­cial form using lar­ge volu­mes of diluted solu­ti­on, known as tume­s­cent local anaes­the­sia.

Good to know

The injec­tion stings brief­ly, after which the area stays numb for about one to seve­ral hours depen­ding on the agent. Pres­su­re and touch may still be felt. All­er­gic reac­tions are rare. Anyo­ne who would like to feel cal­mer can com­bi­ne local anaes­the­sia with twi­light seda­ti­on, which usual­ly makes a gene­ral anaes­the­tic unnecessary.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Sur­gi­cal Rem­oval of Cuta­neous Tumours