Abdominoplasty: complications and risks of abdominoplasties

Abdominoplasty: complications and risks of abdominoplasties

So, do you think about abdominoplasty (abdominoplasty) what are the possible complications of abdominoplasty (abdominoplasty)? Are they easily avoidable? I am not telling you these complications to make you afraid of abdominoplasty (abdominoplasty), but because technically I always prefer the patient to be aware of the complications and steps of their surgery.

Here is the list of possible complications of Abdominoplasty (tummy tucks)

Anesthesia reaction:

This is a reaction during surgery due to anesthesia.

Navel Death:

More common in smokers Occurs due to failure of healing of 2 surgical scars

bleeding

Hematoma (the risk is 3-4%)

blood collections

Infection (risk is less than 1%)

It is not common as surgeries are performed under septic conditions.

Keloid:

big scar

wrinkled skin

Cutaneous lesions in which the skin is wrinkled.

drug reactions

seroma

skin irregularities

Skin necrosis or skin death (more likely in smokers)

slow healing

suture rupture

Swelling

visible scar

Serious complications after a tummy tuck are rare. However, there are risks with any surgery and specific complications associated with this procedure.

Complications such as infection and blood clots are rare, but can occur. The infection can be treated with drainage and antibiotics, but it will prolong your recovery. You can minimize the risk of blood clots by moving as soon as possible after surgery (immobility allows blood to pool and create a clot that can travel to the lungs, heart, or brain and cause a pulmonary embolism, heart attack or a stroke).

If wound problems develop, it can delay healing for several weeks or even months. Some areas of the skin may die and slough off (this complication is more common in smokers). This will result in delayed healing and may require a skin graft. Although rare, it is possible for the fat to liquefy and drain through the incision. Additional surgery may also be necessary.

One of the most common problems after a tummy tuck is fluid buildup under the skin after the drains are removed. Your surgeon can suck out the fluid with a needle. The drainage stops within a month and will not affect the final results.

scars

Surgical scars, as a complication of abdominoplasty (abdominoplasty), are permanent. There will be a long scar that runs from hip to hip. However, the incisions are usually placed below the swimsuit line, so they will not normally be visible. Your scars may get worse over the first three to six months as you heal, but this is normal. It normally takes 9 months to a year before the scars smooth and lighten.

nutritional consequences

Protein deficiency complication

Abdominoplasty (abdominoplasty) is a metabolic surgery designed to produce malnutrition. Energy deficit occurs due to low food intake, food intolerance, and nutrient malabsorption. Abdominoplasties (tummy tucks) aim to achieve malnutrition to lose weight but without complications.

Protein deficiency can occur after a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty). The literature is not clear. Some report severe protein-calorie malnutrition13 although others have described low incidences.

Protein deficiencies initially manifest with fatigue and loss of muscle strength, especially with greater than expected weight loss as in patients who have stricture of the gastrojejunal anastomosis. Progression of protein deficiency is predictable with continued weight loss with further development of hair loss, poor wound healing, wasting, emaciation, kwashiorkor, and marasmus.

Protein deficiencies should be addressed immediately with supplements. Although the normal protein requirement for the average individual is 1 g/kg body weight/day, this formula does not work for the morbidly obese weighing 200 kg or more. Most abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) surgeons aim for 60-90 g per day for their post-op abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) patients, but, in fact, there is little evidence for this guideline. Protein deficiency can be assessed by checking serum albumin levels at regular intervals, but it is not a reliable measure. We have seen near-normal albumin levels in patients who were severely malnourished drop to extremely low values ​​when additional nutrition is given. It almost seems that patients lack the enzymes to use albumin, leading to albumin deposits that cannot be used.

The approach is to proceed promptly by supplementing these patients with one or two cans of a liquid, high-protein, vitamin-enriched preparation, such as Guarantee Plus, if they are able to tolerate an oral diet. This approach rarely fails but can take weeks to restore patients to euproteinemia. However, if patients are unable to eat or drink, total parenteral nutrition should be started immediately with an emphasis on slow rather than rapid correction. In our experience, severely malnourished patients should be corrected slowly; they are unable to handle sudden large loads of nutrients when first seen.

Carbohydrate deficiency complication

Carbohydrate deficiency, manifesting as episodic hypoglycemia, is probably quite common. Many patients admit to having episodes of feeling “shaky and dizzy” during the day, usually around 2 hours after meals. When our gastric bypass series was approximately 1000 cases over 16 years, we found 47 patients in our practice who developed documented glucose levels in the range of 30-40 d/mL. Hypoglycemia appeared to be independent of age, sex, race, original weight, and degree of weight loss and could occur up to 14 years postoperatively. Fortunately, all of our patients managed well with sweets taken at the first “aura” of hypoglycemia, ie weakness, tremors, sweating, etc. All cleared up within a year of symptom onset. A recent report of nesidoblastosis requiring pancreatic resection suggests that there are refractory cases possibly due to the development of secondary tumors.

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