Among the most visible health trends of the last few decades has been the rising rate of obesity within the American population; one-third of Americans are considered obese. As a result, there has been an increase in bariatric surgery with approximately 196,000 gastric bypass, gastric banding, and gastric sleeve procedures performed in the United States in 2015.

Post bariatric surgery, patients often present with significant skin and soft tissue excess and desire body-contouring surgery to remove the additional skin. To address these skin issues that can occur after massive weight loss, there are many options for scar therapy after plastic surgery.

Bariatric surgery post-op patients have complex issues and require a multi-disciplinary, institutional approach to optimize safety, nutritional status, quality of skin, recurrent laxity, surgical steps, and post-surgical care.

I believe in the integration of nutrition, fitness, and surgery for our plastic surgery patients. I recommend when patients consult with a plastic surgeon that they look for a center that integrates nutrition, fitness, and surgery to provide a center of excellence for achieving dramatic and natural body contouring changes in the massive weight loss patient.

Nutrition & Plastic Surgery

Body contouring surgery for massive weight loss patients is primarily focused on reducing skin redundancies and improving contour; however, many times patients have poor tissue quality, particularly elastin and collagen, which leads to higher rates of complications and poorer aesthetic results.

Bariatric patients are at risk for nutritional deficiencies that can affect healing and thus put you at risk for wound healing complications (with the potential of wound separation after plastic surgery). Nutritional deficiencies and inadequacies can result from anatomical changes in the gastrointestinal tract or an alteration in the diet of those seeking weight loss.

Protein-calorie malnutrition has been associated with significantly lower healing rates among the massive weight loss population, and studies have indicated that a minimum of 70 g/day of protein is necessary to balance this protein-calorie malnutrition in post-bariatric patients.

With these nutritional deficiencies in mind, make sure to have a complete vitamin assessment and supplementation prior to any surgical intervention. We check labs early in the surgical planning process so that any inadequacies can be corrected prior to the future surgery date.

Patients must achieve weight stability and nutritional balance prior to proceeding with body contouring procedures. Ideally, patients should be weight stable for a minimum of 12 months. Weight fluctuations, both gain or loss, can strain the body and affect the outcomes of body contouring procedures.

Scar Therapy After Plastic Surgery

The primary goal of body contouring surgery is to reduce skin and improve contour; however, scar visibility and quality still remain an important consideration for surgeons and their patients.

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Shared From: obesityhelp.com