Surgery
Abdomenoplasty is done under complete anaesthesia. It lasts between 2 and 5 hours, depending upon the complexity of the case.
The surgeon performs the first cut in the lower abdomen, under the line of the pants and the second cut round the navel in ord
er to remove the tissues around it. The skin and the subcutaneous tissues are then peeled off till the proximity of the ribs.
If it is necessary, the muscular aponeurotic wall is strengthened by stitching up the median muscles. The peeled off tract
of skin and fat tissue is stretched downwards and the tegument below the navel together with the fat tissue is removed. A
new hole for the navel is drilled, which is afterwards fastened onto this. Finally, the cut is stitched up and 1 or two
draining tubes will be left on the spot for several days.
Post-surgery hospitalisation
As abdomenoplasty is deemed to be a large-scale operation, we prefer a longer hospitalisation of 5 to 7 days for the patient,
in order to increase his/her safety and in order to keep the number of complications down to a minimum. In this time the
patient will wear a bandage and an elastic girdle, will receive anti-thrombotic medication and antibiotics. Starting with
the day after the operation one will encourage the mobility of the patient in order to avoid thrombo-embolical complications.
Recovery