Most sufferers present process “tummy tuck” surgical procedure (abdominoplasty) to take away extra pores and skin and tissue after weight reduction proceed to drop extra pounds within the months and years after surgical procedure, suggests a follow-up research within the July problem of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical procedure®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is printed within the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
“We discovered that sufferers not solely maintained their weight reduction after abdominoplasty, but additionally continued to drop extra pounds over time – as much as ten kilos, on common,” feedback senior writer John Y.S. Kim of Northwestern College Feinberg Faculty of Medication, Chicago. “This postoperative weight reduction seems larger, and will increase at later follow-up occasions, in sufferers with initially larger physique mass index [BMI].”
Continued weight reduction as much as 5 years after tummy tuck
Abdominoplasty is a beauty surgical process to enhance the looks of the stomach. In 2023, ASPS Member Surgeons carried out greater than 170,000 abdominoplasties, in line with ASPS statistics. Many of those procedures are carried out in sufferers with huge weight reduction that leaves them with extra, sagging pores and skin.
Plastic surgeons have noticed that sufferers might proceed to drop extra pounds after abdominoplasty. Nevertheless, there may be little analysis proof on this problem, together with whether or not the abdominoplasty process itself contributes to long-term weight reduction.
Dr. Kim and colleagues carried out a research to evaluate adjustments in physique weight in 188 sufferers who underwent abdominoplasty between 2018 and 2022. Ninety-seven p.c of sufferers have been ladies. The common preoperative weight was about 168 kilos with a BMI of 27.7. Most sufferers underwent liposuction or an additional process to take away extra fats (lipectomy) concurrently abdominoplasty. Traits in physique weight have been assessed via as much as 5 years after surgical procedure.
The outcomes confirmed continued weight reduction after abdominoplasty. At three to 6 months, common weight reduction was between 5 and 6 kilos, with a couple of three p.c lower in BMI. From one to 4 years, weight reduction was about 5 kilos, for a BMI discount of about two p.c. By 5 years (in a restricted variety of sufferers), common weight reduction was almost ten kilos, with greater than a 5 p.c lower in BMI.
‘Close to-constant unfavorable change in physique weight’ after abdominoplasty
Total, about 60% of sufferers misplaced weight throughout follow-up. Additional evaluation confirmed a “close to fixed unfavorable change in physique weight that didn’t considerably change over time,” the researchers write.
After adjustment for different components, continued weight reduction was extra doubtless for older sufferers, for many who underwent liposuction/lipectomy, and people who had by no means smoked. Weight reduction was larger for sufferers who had larger physique weight and BMI earlier than surgical procedure, and for a small variety of sufferers who used the newer weight reduction remedy semaglutide.
The research provides new proof that “post-abdominoplasty weight discount is a quantifiable phenomenon and that sufferers present process abdominoplasty proceed to lose a big quantity of weight for as much as 5 years after surgical procedure,” the researchers write. They be aware some key limitations of their research, together with various follow-up occasions and potential confounding components.
The research can not definitively clarify why sufferers proceed to drop extra pounds after surgical procedure. Nevertheless, Dr. Kim and coauthors write, “We’ve discovered that sufferers who have been capable of obtain weight reduction after their abdominoplasty succeeded in growing wholesome habits that centered round diet and train.” They spotlight the necessity for an “evidence-based platform” to evaluate weight adjustments after abdominoplasty and to determine components related to long-term weight reduction.
