The tumescent technique is so effective at minimizing blood loss that the majority of patients lose very little blood during liposuction. This is the same volume of blood that is taken for routine pre-operative laboratory studies.
In the days before the advent of the tumescent technique the biggest risk of liposuction was excessive loss of blood during surgery. In fact, many of these patients needed blood transfusion. With the advent of the tumescent technique, blood transfusions are no longer a part of liposuction surgery.