With general anesthesia you are completely asleep during the operation. With local anesthesia, your neck area is numbed, mild sedatives may be given to reduce anxiety, and you are awake during the operation. Since you will be awake, you will be in close communication with your surgeon throughout the operation. Most patients are admitted to the hospital on the morning of their surgery. Although an overnight bed is automatically reserved for each patient, you can most likely go home the same day after a 6 hour observation period in the recovery room.
All operations involve some pain and discomfort.
Our goal is to minimize this discomfort. At the time of operation, your surgeon will give you some numbing medicine which usually lasts about twelve hours. Although you should be able to eat and drink normally, the main complaint is pain with swallowing. Before you are discharged from the hospital, a single suture in the incision will be removed. The coating will peel off on its own within 3-6 days and a moisturizer can be applied to the wound to improve healing.