Patient - Abdominoplasty

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Click on an image below to see a larger version.

Before

This young woman had one of the most unusual abdomens I have seen. She had three pregnancies carried to term and was not overweight. Her abdominal bulge was huge but with no discrete hernia, just a very weak abdominal wall. I half suspected she might have some unusual disorder of her connective tissue, but nothing in her history or examination pointed to this. I offered her an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) with suturing of her muscles to tighten them and she went ahead with this. 

I shoe her in profile because this is by far the most impressive view to show the extreme bulge. 

After

These photos show her a few months after surgery and nearly a year later. She has developed a modest midline bulge of her upper abdomen and I believe this is due the poor quality of her muscles and supporting tissues. She still shows dramatic improvement compared to before surgery. Because she had so little loose skin and underlying fat, I had to totally cut off her belly button and then put it back on as a graft, which worked quite well. Her scars are very faint and fine. 

This is her profile about five months after surgery. 

This is her after about one year.