Abdominoplasty

Abdominoplasty

Following pregnancies, significant weight loss skin on the abdomen can start to get loose. Excessive skin, or skin and abdominal wall laxity can often make one overly conscious of their body and start to lose confidence, and self-love. These are true even if there were no pregnancies or significant weight loss but you have skin laxity on your tummy. Any men and women who desire to improve their abdomen aesthetically because it affects their mental health deserves it, after all we all want to be happy with ourselves.

Abdominoplasty, also known as tummy tuck, is the surgical removal of the excess skin on the abdomen and repairment of the abdominal wall musculature. With an abdominoplasty, you can acquire an aesthetically pleasing tummy, and it is an operation that can be combined with other aesthetic surgeries.

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Surgical Procedure

Depending on the reason and the goal of the surgery, after the incision is made, one or multiple of the following procedures can be done

During an abdominoplasty surgery, the patient is given general anesthesia, and with an extensive incision excess skin is excised. The final position of the incision is low enough to be hidden in the bikini line.

The surgery begins with surgical markings, then incisions are made. The skin is separated from the abdominal wall. Belly button is separated from the flap with circumferential incision, and after the carefully calculated excision of the excess skin is made, a new space for the belly button is created. Handling of the belly button is very important, if there is not enough blood supply or fat pad, there can be ischemia and necrosis of the skin, which are definitely unwanted complications.

After everything is in place, and looking good, making sure the skin redraped on the abdomen sticks to it well, internal sutures with long-lasting absorbable sutures are used to reinforce the abdominal wall. An important aspect of the procedure is to not remove too much skin, as tension on the skin after sutured can result in complications like wound dehiscence.

The abdominoplasty surgery can be combined with liposuction procedure to increase the aesthetic outcome. Excess fat removal with liposuction can help in the removal of excess fat in the flanks, and smooths the resulting contour.

Possible Complications

Most common complications seen in tummy tuck patients are:

Necrosis

Tissue death, necrosis, is one of the most unwanted complications. Although it is a rather rare complication, if you suspect it because the skin near the sutures are turning purplish to blackish color, go to your doctor immediately so it can be kept under control. Necrosis usually happens when there is not enough blood or nutrition supply to the area.

Hematoma

Blood leaking from veins into tissues can cause blood to collect and form a hematoma. It can be prevented by wearing compression garments, cold compresses, and following your doctor's instructions and taking the prescribed medications.

Seroma

Seromas are translucent fluid collections around the surgical incisions. They are not painful and can be easily drained.

Infection

Infection of the surgical sites can be painful, to prevent you should keep these sites clean by cleaning periodically.

Wound dehiscence

When too much skin is removed, the tension on the sutures can be too much for sutures to hold the skin together. In such cases the incision site reopens and is called wound dehiscence. Prevention begins at the operating room where not too much skin is removed, and afterwards wearing compression garments help keep the tension on the incision area to a minimum.

Abundant drain secretions

Although rare, in some cases excessive drain secretions can be seen.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
All surgical procedures have some risks. However, if it is performed by an experienced and talented surgeon, and you follow your surgeon’s post-op instructions closely, the risk of having a serious problem is very small.
During abdominoplasty surgery, your surgeon will work to remove extra fat and skin of the abdomen and then repair and tighten your abdominal muscles. Liposuction may be required according to your needs.
The most common regions include abdomen, waist, back, buttocks, calves, ankles, hips, thighs, upper arms, chest, chin, and neck.
There are generally no major risks about becoming pregnant after an abdominoplasty procedure but if you think about having children, it is advised to postpone the procedure because pregnancy may adversely affect the result.
You are a good candidate if you have lost too much weight and have loose excess skin around your abdomen, have stretched abdominal muscles due to old age, pregnancy or other factors.
You can’t have meaningful weight-loss via abdominoplasty. Abdominoplasty is performed when you have stretched abdominal muscles, excess skin and fat in the abdominal region. So, you have a tighter and smoother belly.
The duration of the surgery depends on the extent of fat and skin removal. The surgery may take two to five hours.
Most patients take generally one to two weeks off work but depending on your job and rate of healing, this time period can change. However, you should refrain from strenuous activities for at least 6 weeks.
You have to avoid strenuous physical activities for 2 weeks. At this point, you will be able to begin light exercises. You can resume all physical activities after 6 weeks.
Unfortunately, all surgeries leave scar, but you should not be concerned about it because abdominoplasty scars are located very low on the abdomen. So, they are concealed under your underwear and bikini line.
When your surgery is done, you will be placed in a compression garment to reduce swelling and it will be worn for 4-6 weeks depending on your healing rate. You may feel pain in the following days, but you can manage it by pain medication prescribed by your surgeon.