Psychological assessment in post-bariatric plastic surgery: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity can have physical, psychological, and social consequences. Bariatric surgery has the potential to improve the patient’s biopsychosocial condition. However, excess skin after rapid and significant weight loss can cause psychological distress. Plastic surgery, as the only procedure capable of removing excess skin, has the potential to improve self-image. Additionally, it can encourage weight control. This study investigated, through a scoping review, whether the basic psychological assessment, carried out during screening by the plastic surgeon, is capable of identifying psychological distress in patients who wish to undergo plastic surgery after bariatric surgery. Method: A bibliographic survey was carried out, covering articles published between 2013 and 2023, in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, in the MEDLINE, Virtual Health Library (VHL), and Embase databases. Results: In the search strategy, 48 articles met the inclusion criteria, and 18 articles were mentioned in this study. Conclusion: The psychological assessment carried out during plastic surgeon screening allows the identification of suffering resulting from excess skin after bariatric surgery and previous psychological suffering. This facilitates the medical decision about whether or not to refer the patient for specialized psychological evaluation. This approach broadens the patient’s understanding of the relationship between body and mind.

Keywords

• psychosocial functioning
• plastic surgery procedures
• bariatric surgery
• body image
• mental disorders
• body contouring