Secondary abdominoplasty.

[BACKGROUND] Abdominoplasty is the most frequent excisional body contour procedure performed in aesthetic surgery. Secondary abdominoplasty refers to a new excisional procedure for a patient who has previously undergone an excisional abdominoplasty. In the authors' practice, more than 7% of abdominoplasties are secondary cases and deserve special consideration.

[METHODS] The authors present a retrospective analysis of their experience with 21 secondary cases among 298 abdominoplasties performed between 2001 and 2006. They have considered as secondary cases only those involving patients who have undergone excisional abdomen contour surgery previously.

[RESULTS] A total of 17 patients underwent surgery during the first year after the primary procedure, and 4 patients had surgery more than 5 years after that procedure. Following the principles described in this report, it was possible to solve the problem in each particular case and to obtain improvements in both trunk contour and patient satisfaction.

[CONCLUSIONS] In planning and designing the procedure, a precise diagnosis of the abdominal deformities is essential. The risks in secondary abdominoplasty are similar to those in the primary procedure.