Patient - Abdominoplasty

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Before

Like most women who have had several children this patient presented with severe loss of elasticity of the abdominal skin, loss of muscle tone, and extensive stretch marks. She said that she has been heavy all of her life but was fairly active and did CrossFit three times a week. She did not believe that she was going to lose much weight and wanted to proceed with an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). No other procedure will correct problems of this degree. I made sure she understood that her weight might compromise the result a bit and that future weight loss would definitely have an adverse effect on the tightening achieved with surgery.

After

She is shown after an abdominoplasty in which 2652 grams (about 5.85 lb) of skin and fat were removed. I also tightened her rectus (six pack) muscles. She was at higher risk for complications by virtue of her weight and did develop a fluid collection in the abdomen that I had to remove several times with a needle and syringe. In addition, I performed a minor touch up 10 months after her original surgery to tighten the skin a bit more. She is shown 6 months after that revision. In addition to this, she lost 14 lbs as well.