Medial Thigh Lift with Tumescent Local Anesthesia: Advancing Outpatient Body Contouring
<b>Background</b>: Demand for anesthesia-sparing body contouring techniques is rising. This study assessed the feasibility, safety, and outcomes of medial thigh lift performed exclusively under tumescent local anesthesia (TLA) in an outpatient setting. <b>Methods</b>: A retrospective review was conducted that included 43 female patients (mean age of 41.6 years; BMI of 27.6 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) treated from November 2019 to June 2023. All procedures used pure TLA without sedation; a horizontal excision alone or combined with liposuction was chosen according to preoperative evaluation. The end-points were operative time, intra-operative pain (four-point scale), complications, and 12-month patient satisfaction. <b>Results</b>: Surgery was completed under TLA in every case, with no conversion to general anesthesia. The median operative time was 30 min for excision-only procedures and 50 min when combined with liposuction. Intra-operative comfort was rated "excellent" (86.0%) or "good" (14.0%); no opioids were required postoperatively. The overall complication rate was 23.2% (10/43), limited to minor wound dehiscence (9.3%), dog-ear deformity (7.0%), and scar displacement/hypertrophy (7.0%). No seroma, hematoma, infection, thromboembolic events, sensory deficits, or hospital readmissions occurred. All patients were discharged after 4 h and resumed ambulation within 24 h. At 12 months, 97.7% reported being "very satisfied" or "satisfied." <b>Conclusions</b>: Medial thigh lift under pure TLA provides reliable anesthesia and hemostasis, minimizes perioperative morbidity, and enables same-day discharge, with high patient satisfaction. The low incidence of only minor complications supports TLA as a safe, effective, and resource-efficient alternative to general anesthesia for selected patients with mild-to-moderate thigh laxity. Further comparative and long-term studies are warranted.
Authors
- Claudia Trignano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8846-0700)
- Corrado Rubino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2410-6083)
- Emilio Trignano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4291-7610)
- Gianluca Marcaccini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8621-8216)
- Sergio Riso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8798-1224)
- Roberto Cuomo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8396-095X)
- Giovanni Arrica (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3940-4285)
- Edoardo Filigheddu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8753-0868)
- Federico Ziani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4808-7474)
Institutions
- University of Siena (IT)
- University of Sassari (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Published
- 2025-08-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14165630
- Primary Topic
- Body Contouring and Surgery
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00