Bariatric surgery is the term for surgical procedures aiming to helping patients who are morbidly obese lose excess weight. We can include in this discussion also patients who undergo massive weight loss on their own by following strict diets and exercise routines.
As a consequence of massive weight loss, the skin in several areas of the body will become excessive/redundant. In women, this can be visualized by “empty” and sagging breasts. In both men and women, there will be excess skin on the abdomen, which creates large abdominal “aprons” as well as excess skin on the arms and legs.
Plastic surgery aiming to fix these defects can be done in a sequential manner, or can be bundled together. It is time to think in one of the Best Plastic Surgeons in Miami for any procedure. Patients who need more than 2 surgeries should consider doing them in steps so no risks are taken when they are undergoing these combined procedures. Attention must be given to the lack of elasticity of the skin after massive weight loss. The skin has already been stretched by the weight gain, and any and all possible contraction occurs during weight loss, so the surgeon and the patient cannot anticipate the usual improvement (with further contraction) that would be expected simply related to skin elasticity in the recontouring of the body after bariatric surgery. Another issue to be taken into consideration is that when intra-abdominal surgery is performed, even though the procedures are done with the newer laparoscopic techniques and smaller incisions, hernias like the one we are showing in this blog can be found when performed abdominoplasties.
The surgeon might have enough expertise to fix those hernias, which many times are undiagnosed during the preoperative visits. When performing breast surgery, the patient not only needs a lift but also placement of implants, and again, we have to take very carefully into consideration that the patient’s tissues have been stretched, and they will not help too much in reconstruction of the breasts. Another delicate issue is the thighs.
Many times the patient needs removal of a large amount of skin from the thighs, which can only be achieved with what is called a vertical thigh lift, leaving the patient with large vertical scars that go from the groins to the knees. Even though many times patients are scared about this procedure and having long scars on their legs, when the healing is adequate, the scars became inconspicuous, and the benefits are terrific, as we can see in the pictures. The abdominal skin can easily be removed during an abdominoplasty and combined with reinforcement of the abdominal wall. The patient will recover a nice waist, and the silhouette will be properly regained. Now it is time to think in one of the Best Plastic Surgeons in Miami.
Dr Carlos Spera is one of the best Plastic Surgeons in Miami who performs these procedures in a hospital, if necessary; young, healthy patients can be done in his ambulatory surgery center. We also have facilities to keep the patients after they are discharged from the Surgery Center which include a nurse for their comfort.
