Comparison of the rate of seroma between conventional and inverted T abdominoplasty in post-bariatric patients

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The earliest descriptions of abdominoplasties date back to the early 20th century and have been unchanged over time. However, only within the last three decades have there been major advances and innovations in the technique, largely because of the rising popularity of bariatric surgery. In certain patients, we observed a higher incidence of complications, including seroma development. The objective is to evaluate and compare the incidence of seroma between two abdominoplasty techniques, conventional and inverted T, in post-bariatric patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 30 patients with a history of bariatric surgery and body mass index (BMI) less than 30 who underwent abdominoplasty by a single surgeon between February 2009 and March 2015. Of these, 15 patients were treated by the conventional technique (conventional group), while the other 15 patients were treated by the inverted T technique (Inverted T group). During the postoperative clinical follow-up, the occurrence of seroma and other complications was assessed. RESULTS: Thirty female patients with a mean age of 36 years, mean weight of 70 kg and a mean BMI of 25 kg/m2, without significant differences between groups, were studied. The overall occurrence of seroma in the study was 23%. A statistically significant difference (p = 0.04) was observed between the conventional group, in which six patients (40%) developed seroma, compared to the anchor group, in which one patient (6.7%) developed seroma. Dehiscence was observed, with no significant difference in occurrence between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The incidence of seroma was higher in patients who underwent conventional abdominoplasty compared to those who underwent inverted T abdominoplasty.

Keywords

• seroma
• abdominoplasty
• abdominoplasty/adverse effects
• bariatric surgery