Dr. Barry Friedberg MD

Barry Friedberg is a renowned anesthesiologist who has been assisting Dr. Sire with cosmetic surgery procedures since 2000. Dr. Friedberg pioneered a minimally invasive anesthesia technique known as Propofol Ketamine or PK. His technique, designed to maximize patient safety by minimizing the degree of medication, has been adopted worldwide.

Dr. Friedberg completed his medical training and anesthesia residency at Stanford University working with cardiac transplant surgical pioneer Norman Shumway, MD He was elected a diplomat of the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1980.

Always an innovator, Dr. Friedberg was among the first to use an automated blood pressure device that many thought was futuristic (and superfluous) but is now a well-established way of determining patients' blood pressure. He was also an early adopter of pulse oximetry in the mid-1980s, and encouraged the hospital to purchase the technology before it was deemed a standard of care.

An expert in his field, Dr. Friedberg has published many articles about his technique that have been cited in medical textbooks and other journal articles. Dr. Friedberg is a contributor to the letters to the editor section in several anesthesia and surgery journals. He is a clinical instructor in Anesthesia at the University of Southern California and has lectured in the United States, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Israel and Venezuela.

Benefits of the PK Anesthesia
The PK approach helps patients recover quickly and be pain and nausea-free. PK creates the illusion of general anesthesia, with minimal sedation. Patients don't hear or feel their surgery, yet remain at the lightest level of anesthesia, short of being awake.

Propofol is a very short acting drug, which makes it ideal for use in the office. Within three to five minutes of the propofol infusion being turned off at the end of the surgery, the patients emerge. Often patients are able to go home, clear-headed, within 30 minutes after their surgery.

There is no other anesthetic technique that so often leaves patients with a sense of well being as does Dr. Friedberg's PK technique. Patients have been quite enthusiastic in their response to PK because it essentially eliminates post-operative nausea and vomiting. All cosmetic procedures that require anesthesia can be performed using PK.

You can learn more about Dr. Friedberg here.