We really enjoy doing procedures in our office, as it represents a comfortable, safe, convenient, and less expensive alternative to a full operating room. Eyelid surgery, neck liposuction, labiaplasty, gynecomastia correction, skin lesion removal, closure of defects following a Mohs’ procedure for skin cancer, and lipoma removal are just some of the procedures we commonly perform. With local anesthetics and occasional oral sedation, patients can walk in, have their procedure, and walk out a short time later. Patients love that and certainly appreciate the lower cost.
Some procedures, however, we feel are best suited to an operating room setting. Abdominoplasty, breast reductions and lifts, facelifts, and others require anesthesia and equipment that are found in a fully outfitted operating room. Patient safety must always be our number one concern and we don’t feel some of these major operations can be performed in our office.
While there has been a trend toward plastic surgeons building extensively equipped operating rooms in their offices where general anesthesia can be performed some of these are not certified and up to the standards of hospitals and larger outpatient facilities such as our Lawrence Surgery Center. We have not chosen to do this as we find that patients appreciate the great care they receive at the Lawrence Surgery Center and we love working there.
If you’re going to undergo a surgical procedure it’s important to discuss the setting where it will be performed. We’ll help you understand the differences and why we might recommend one setting over another. We want you to have a good experience with the best outcome.
