Comparative study between abdominoplasty with suction drainage and without suction drainage but using adhesion stitches

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Abdominoplasty is one of the most common procedures performed by plastic surgeons. The goal of this study is to evaluate the outcome and the occurrence of complications in patients undergoing abdominoplasty using the en bloc resection technique, and to look for differences in evolution when a drain is used or is replaced with adhesion stitches.

Methods:

A prospective study was conducted on 34 female patients undergoing abdominoplasty. These were alternately placed into 2 groups: in one group suction drains were used, and in the other these were replaced with adhesion stitches.

Results:

Among all the cases, there was some degree of scar widening in 14.7% of patients. When analyzed by group, those who received drains had a higher incidence (23.53%) comparing to those who received adhesion stitches (5.88%). One patient had superficial vein thrombosis of the lower limbs with a good outcome. Three cases of seroma were diagnosed, all of them in the group using drains. These represent 8.82% of the entire study and 17.64% of the specific group. The aesthetic result was considered good by 94.12% of all patients.

Conclusions:

The en bloc resection abdominoplasty technique proved to be safe, easy to perform, assured good aesthetical results and had similar complication rates when compared to other techniques. The adhesion stitches were effective for preventing complications in this study.

Keywords:
Abdominoplasty; Postoperative Complications; Seroma; Scars