Your surgeon is your clearinghouse for information and as such, will discuss the particulars of your surgery with you. This is just a general guide to surgery times for the most common procedures in each category, and the types of anesthesia usually used.
Implants
Time: One to two hours
Hospital stay: Usually outpatient (overnight stay may be required if there are complications)
Anesthesia: General anesthesia is the most common (for all of the procedures). General anesthesia means that you are totally knocked out and can’t see, hear, or feel anything during the surgery. It does have side effects, however, such as nausea. Some surgeons will do epidural anesthesia; this is a little different from epidural anesthesia for giving birth. Instead of anesthetizing from the waist to the toes, epidural anesthesia for breast augmentation anesthetizes from the shoulders to the belly button. (Not all anesthesiologists perform epidural anesthesia for beast augmentation, so it generally needs to be requested in advance.) You don’t have to be awake; you can still be given medications so that you are unaware of what is happening during the surgery. If you don’t want general anesthesia, talk to your surgeon to see about alternatives.
Breast Reduction
Time: About two hours, for the most common procedure, which involves removing excess glandular tissue, fat, and skin, and then adjusting the nipple to its new position.
Hospital stay: Usually outpatient (overnight stay may be required if there are complications)
Anesthesia: General
Breast Lift
Time: One to three hours (more if you are also doing implants)
Hospital stay: Usually outpatient (overnight stay may be required if there are complications)
Anesthesia: General is usually recommended, though sometimes IV sedation is used.
Breast Reconstruction
Time: As much as seven hours (depending on type of procedure, and whether you have mastectomy and reconstruction at the same time)
Hospital stay: From one day to six days, depending on the type of procedure.
Anesthesia: General