Question :
Is it possible for me to have my ear surgery performed with local anesthesia?
Answer :
I have performed otoplasty under local anesthesia. Once the ears have been injected with local anesthesia, there is no pain and otoplasty is well tolerated. My choice in adults, however, is to give twilight anesthesia or IV sedation. The procedure can take a couple of hours for both ears and given the safety of IV sedation I see no reason to not be completely comfortable during the otoplasty surgery. Also, my experience is that when procedures are longer than an hour and somewhat invasive, patients become nervous as the case progresses and the sedation will really take the edge off.
Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld