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Tumescent anesthesia involves the injection of a very dilute local anesthetic solution, coupled with epinephrine and sodium bicarbonate, into tissue until it becomes firm and tense (tumescent). The technique was initially pioneered in the 1980s for the purposes of liposuction, but its application has since expanded to cover a variety of surgeries. In the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, this includes mastectomy, breast reduction, breast augmentation, and perhaps more controversially, breast reconstruction.