This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Combining abdominal, cosmetic breast surgery does not increase short-term complication rates
Combining abdominal and breast procedures is safe in the majority of patients and does not increase 30-day complications rates, researchers found.
Researchers utilized the Tracking Operations and Outcomes for Plastic Surgeons (TOPS) database and identified 44,623 aesthetic breast procedures, 10,440 abdominal procedures and 3,693 combined aesthetic breast and abdominal procedures.
Of those who underwent a combined aesthetic breast and abdominal procedure, 9.4% experienced an adverse event within 30 days.
The rate did not significantly differ from those undergoing only abdominal surgery at 9.75%.
However, there was nearly a 4-fold increase in 30-day complications with combined procedures when compared to breast surgery alone, regardless of the particular breast or abdominal procedure.
The researchers warn that the benefits of a combined procedures may not necessarily apply to every patient. – by Abigail Sutton
Disclosure: Khavanin reported no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all remaining authors’ financial disclosures.
Perspective
Back to Top
I commend Dr. Khavanin, et al. on their article on complication rates in combined breast and body procedures. These "combo" surgeries have become commonplace in the Mommy Makeover era of aesthetic surgery.
There are two key takeaways that can be gathered from this article: first, and most evident, is that the morbidity of combined breast-abdominal surgery is heavily--if not exclusively--related to the abdominoplasty procedure. Because of this, many surgeons (myself included) have moved to 23-hour overnight stays for these patients in order to more closely monitor the recovery process.
Second, the Tracking Operations and Outcomes for Plastic Surgeons (TOPS) database, is statistically powerful and robust; however, only a minority of board-certified plastic surgeons contribute.
Our greatest contribution to our patients lies in studying best-practices through outcomes research. It is incumbent on us, as fully trained plastic surgeons, to continue to help the greater good through subspecialty-wide collaboration.
Dr. Adam J. Oppenheimer, MD is a board certified plastic surgeon in Orlando, Florida. Follow him on Instagram: @OrlandoNipTuck