Abdominoplasty
What is tummy – tuck or abdominoplasty?
Tummy Tuck is a procedure to remove the excess sagging abdominal skin along with tightening of the abdominal wall muscles to restore the tone.
When do you need tummy tuck?
This operation is helpful especially for women with lax abdominal skin after pregnancy, aging or after excessive weight loss or following bariatric surgery.
If some one has a combination of excessive fat and loose skin, tummy tuck can be combined with liposuction (excess fat removal).
What do you do in tummy tuck?
It takes approximately 2 to 4 hours for this surgery and it requires general anaesthesia. The usual hospital stay is 2 to 5 days depending upon the individual’s response to the surgery.
During this process of lifting the abdominal skin from the muscles, the umbilicus is relocated and excess sagging skin excised. Stitch line come as a fine line horizontally. Stitches are under the skin and absorbable and strengthen with tapes and no need of stitch removal. The final scar is hidden in undergarments.
Sometimes, abdominoplasty is combined with liposuction (fat suctioning) for abdomen contouring.
How is post op recovery?
Usually, the patient can resume routine work in 2 to 4 weeks, whilst strenuous and sports activity should be postponed till the 6th to 8th week, the scars fade and flatten by 3 months to 2 years.
Smoking and consuming alcohol must be totally stopped two weeks before the operation, as they impair wound healing.
What are long term result ?
Although the results of tummy tuck are technically permanent, but significant weight fluctuations can make result inconsistent.
What are the complication or side effect?
Tummy tuck is pretty safe surgery if done meticulously and patient follow instruction carefully.
But in few cases it may be seroma, bleeding, infection, stretch scar or suture line dehiscence.