The choice of operating facility for your blepharoplasty is up to your doctor and you. Unlike a tummy tuck or aggressive liposuction, it is not particularly invasive to your body as a whole or overly dangerous to your state of general well-being.

A well-equipped eyelid surgery office OR should work as well as a hospital surgery suite primarily equipped to perform general surgery operations. Blood pressure and pulse can be monitored throughout a blepharoplasty whether in an office setting or at a hospital.

If your doctor maintains an office operating room specifically equipped to perform eye lid surgery, this may be your best bet.

The doctor may feel more comfortable working on his or her own home turf and knowing that the facility is equipped with exactly the right instruments and supplies.

From a patient's point of view, it's hard for most hospitals to compete with the comfort and level of personal attention doled out in most plastic surgery office operating rooms.

Office facilities are staffed by people you may have already met during your eyelid surgery consultation. Having already visited your surgeon's office, you can more readily imagine yourself as a patient undergoing your operation. By decreasing the "unknown", the overall experience is generally made more positive.

Blepharoplasty can be performed quite successfully under local anesthesia with moderate oral sedation and analgesia. Some cosmetic eye surgeons may, however, prefer general anesthesia or intravenous twilight sleep.

In such cases where the risk of drug side-effects is higher and the recovery from anesthesia will take longer, you may wish to give careful consideration to the added security of a large hospital or out-patient surgicenter.