Before and after liposuction of the abdomen and flanks in a 41-year-old woman who had lost 75 pounds over the last two years. She had maintained a stable weight and wanted to further remove fat in her midsection that weight loss had not achieved. An abdominoplasty was discussed as an option, but she decided to focus on liposuction alone and see what type of result she would achieve.
A combined liposuction and breast reduction procedure was performed under general anesthesia as an outpatient procedure. Over three liters of fat was removed through several tiny incisions hidden in skin creases. After surgery, she took a month off work and six weeks off exercise. She wore compression garments for a full three months.
Follow up photos are shown 4 months after surgery. Even though she still has some surgical swelling, she is already satisfied with her fat reduction. She is back exercising and finds yoga much easier to practice with less fat in her belly region.
She has been counselled that if the loose lower abdominal skin is bothersome, she can consider skin excision in the form of a skin-only abdominoplasty after one year. Since she did not have any children, her muscles were not separated – therefore, a full abdominoplasty with rectus abdominis muscle repair would not be required.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
