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Before Tummy Tuck
Before Surgery

Full Tummy Tuck Thick Frame

1 Month After Tummy Tuck
1 Month After Surgery
1 Year After Tummy Tuck
1 Year Following Surgery
Pre-operatively, this patient displays several of the issues for which a tummy tuck is appropriate. Childbirth had left a moderate-sized abdominal apron that hung toward the pubes. While fat could be felt within this apron, there was also an excess of skin. The abdominal muscular envelope could be felt beneath having been made more "lax" by the increased abdominal pressure maintained during the previous pregnancies. These pregnancies had long since occurred (years). 

At 1 Month following surgery, the patient is getting back into her activities (slowly). Her healing is only beginning however. The abdominal wound appears red at this juncture as new blood vessels grow into the healing region. These vessels regress over the next few months to a year. Sunlight should be avoided in this region as the area heals to avoid the "tattoo" that might otherwise form. The abdomen is still swollen taking several months to resolve. 

At 1 Year following surgery, the wound healing is nearly complete. The scar has faded. The redness has resolved as well as the post-operative swelling. This older case in a woman of a thicker frame shows the relative improvements that can be made and the limitations of more limited surgery. I would probably have made the incisions longer and lower if I had done this case more recently. Twenty years of experience will do that sometimes.:)

OPERATIVE STATISTICS:
  • Before: Abdominal Fatty Deposits With Muscular Laxity And Skin Excess 
  • After: Improved Abdominal Contour 
  • Operative Design: A Moderate PLus Tummy Tuck was performed through a lower abdominal crescent incision. The "Apron" was removed (containing skin and fat) and  the abdominal muscles were "tightened." An Umbilicoplasty was performed to provide a natural depression above and below the "belly button."   

© 1996 John Di Saia MD - Orange County California