Prospective Outcome Study of 360 Patients Treated with Liposuction, Lipoabdominoplasty, and Abdominoplasty
Dermatologic Surgery
Prospective Outcome Study of 360 Patients Treated with Liposuction, Lipoabdominoplasty, and Abdominoplasty
Swanson E. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 2012;129:965-978.
Patient satisfaction levels with abdominal contouring procedures have not been recorded in a prospective study to date. This study collected patient-reported data from 360 patients between 2002 and 2007 who underwent liposuction, tummy tuck or a combined liposuction-tummy tuck procedure to compare outcomes gathered from a patient perspective. Data was collected via patient interviews during post-treatment followup at least 1 month out from ultrasonic liposuction and/or tummy tuck procedures (liposuction, n = 219; liposuction + tummy tuck, n = 128; tummy tuck, n = 13). Questions included patient data, indications, recovery, results, complications and psychological effects.
Liposuction patients reported less discomfort and quicker recovery than either of the other groups. However result ratings were higher for the liposuction + tummy tuck and tummy tuck alone groups. Among all groups, the majority reported an improvement in self-esteem (85.8%) and quality of life (69.6%). Despite pain levels comparable to tummy tuck alone, the highest level of patient satisfaction was with the combined liposuction-tummy tuck procedure.
Publication available through Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons