Infection risk of ‘body-contouring’ surgery

POST-OBESITY surgery – which rids weight-loss patients of excess skin – can lead to poor wound-healing and infections. And the bigger the patient to begin with, the worse the ultimate outcome, according to a new study.

Researchers from Texas University examined the risks of procedures including tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) and the full ‘body-lift’ in those who have lost vast amounts of weight. Thousands of Britons have ‘body-contouring’ procedures each year. The operations involve cutting away excess skin and fat, and removing and stitching the underlying muscles into a new position. An overall complication rate of almost 20 per cent was found in a review of 450 individual cases, and those who had body-contouring after weight loss of more than three-and-a-half stone were more than twice as likely to suffer problems.

The risk of problems increased dramatically in patients who had lost more than seven stone. Poor healing of wounds and infections, and dehiscence – when a surgical wound ruptures – were all seen significantly more often in patients who lost most. The reason for the increased risk of wound complication is believed to be linked to nutritional deficiencies and changes in the skin. Ryan Constantine, clinical researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who co-authored the study, said: ‘The worst cases were seen in those who had gastric bypass.’

This form of surgery can lead to inadequate intake of nutrients, due to reduced stomach capacity, which can lead to poor wound-healing, they add.

The authors, writing in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, recommend that surgeons recognise such factors when discussing the procedure with prospective patients and prepare people for surgery with protein supplementation.

‘It’s important diet and nutrition is looked at before surgery,’ Constantine said.