Liposuction cost: what one area of the trunk adds up to
Liposuction of the abdomen and flanks, the most common request, priced line by line; anesthesia time is the line that moves most with the number of areas.
Liposuction, estimated total before the surgeon at national rates
$2,240
Anesthesia $299, operating room $1,941.
| Surgeon's fee | not included, enter your quote |
| Anesthesia, 14.6 units | $299 |
| Operating room, surgery center | $1,941 |
Benchmark, not a quote: the operating room and anesthesia lines are 2026 Medicare rates for the same codes; private prices for cosmetic work are set by each practice and are often higher. No public file prices the surgeon's fee: it counts only once you enter the figure from your own quote.
| Code | CMS short descriptor | Share paid | National rate | Local amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPT 15877 | Suction lipectomy trunk | 100 % | $1,941 | $1,941 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Where each line comes from · CMS 2026 rate files · not a quote
The operating room and the anesthesia of a liposuction of the trunk come to a benchmark of $2,240 at national rates in 2026. The room is paid $1,941 by Medicare to a surgery center for code 15877, suction lipectomy of the trunk, and $3,620 to a hospital outpatient department. Anesthesia is $299: 3 base units for an operation on the body wall plus 11.6 time units, because CMS records no time for this code and the site uses the 174 minutes measured in a published series. The surgeon's fee is set by each practice and published in no public file, so it enters the total only from your own quote. Treating more areas lengthens the session, so the anesthesia line rises with each area, while the room stays one payment per code.
One code per body region
Liposuction is billed by region, not by area treated. CPT 15877 covers the trunk, the abdomen and the flanks; other codes cover the head and neck (15876), the upper arms (15878) and the legs (15879). Practices, on the other hand, usually quote per area, so the same code can hide one area or four. The MedlinePlus page on liposuction lists the parts of the body it can contour and warns that it is a surgical procedure with risks, including rare fatal complications, a reminder that the price is only one part of the decision.
| Line | National benchmark | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Surgeon's fee | your quote | Set by the practice; no public file |
| Anesthesia | $299 | 3 + 11.6 units at $20.50 |
| Room, surgery center | $1,941 | CPT 15877, Addendum AA |
| Room, hospital department | $3,620 | CPT 15877, APC 5055, status T |
Time drives the anesthesia line
The CMS physician time file leaves CPT 15877 blank, so the default of 174 minutes is the mean liposuction time of a published series of 20 patients, whose sessions ran from 94 to 278 minutes. Real sessions vary widely with the volume removed and the number of regions. At the national anesthesia factor, a 90-minute session costs $184 in anesthesia and a five-hour session $471. Tumescent liposuction, the most common technique according to MedlinePlus, injects a solution containing a local anesthetic, and some small procedures are done with that alone: the anesthesia line then shrinks or disappears, which the calculator lets you show by typing your own quote.
Anesthesia for your liposuction time
Anesthesia for liposuction at national rates
$389
| Base units, anesthesia code 00400 | 3 |
| Time units for 240 minutes | 16 |
| Conversion factor of the locality | $20.50 |
| Each extra 15 minutes | $20 |
Liposuction added to another operation
Surgeons often add liposuction to a tummy tuck or a breast operation. In a surgery center, the second code is paid at half its rate under the multiple procedure rule, and anesthesia is billed once for the whole session. With a tummy tuck, the combined room and anesthesia benchmark is $4,323, $1,032 below two separate operations. The surgeon's fee for the added liposuction is the surgeon's own decision, often below the stand-alone price; the page on combined procedures explains the rule.
By metro area
The room and anesthesia benchmark is $2,459 in Los Angeles and $2,204 in Houston, a gap of $255 that comes from wages in the room and the anesthesia factor. Liposuction is heavily advertised in large cities, with package prices that may or may not include anesthesia and the facility; asking for the lines separately is the way to compare them. The Brazilian butt lift page prices the operation that adds fat grafting to liposuction.