This study evaluates the safety and outcomes of combining liposuction with varying degrees of abdominal flap undermining during abdominoplasty. Patients were randomly anssigned into three groups based on the extent of undermining and use of liposuction. Outcomes assessed included complication rates, horizontal laxity, and aesthetic results.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
63
Liposuction of the abdominal flap
Wide undermining of the abdominal flap
Limited undermining of the abdominal flap
Department of Surgery, Cairo University
Cairo, Egypt
Aesthetic outcome
The postoperative aesthetic outcome was assessed using four predefined criteria by three independent surgeons in a double-blinded fashion. Each patient was assigned a postoperative score, with 1 representing the poorest outcome and 5 the best outcome. The mean score of all reviewers was then calculated for each case. These criteria included waist contour, residual adiposity (central), skin flaccidity, and the overall aesthetic appearance.
Time frame: 6 months postoperatively
Postoperative complication rate (e.g., seroma, necrosis, infection)
Time frame: Within 6 months postoperatively
Horizontal laxity
The "bury test" was used to assess the amount of horizontal laxity. The "bury test", almost the reverse of the pinch, involves burying the loose skin by tightly rolling the skin folds on either side of the resection area, and marking the maximum width of skin contact. This distance was measured both at rest and under tension.
Time frame: 6 months postoperatively
Change in BMI
Time frame: 6 months postoperatively
Epigastric pinch
The epigastric pinch was measured pre and postoperatively and difference was recorded
Time frame: 6 months postoperatively
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