Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) Experience

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) Initial Consultation:

You will meet with San Diego Plastic Surgeon Dr. Tom Pousti for a private consultation to discuss your goals. Dr. Pousti will discuss options, risks, benefits and possible complications of different surgical procedures with you. Questions regarding optimal timing of surgery and typical post-operative care issues will be addressed.

Examination:

Dr. Pousti will examine you and advise you accordingly. He will let you know if you are a good candidate for surgery and if he can achieve your goals. Questions such as placement and incisions, expected scarring, recovery and your specific concerns will be addressed.

Tailoring the Surgery to Meet Your Goals:

Dr. Pousti will review several albums of pre and post operative patient’s pictures with you. He wants to have a full understanding of your desired result and pictures aid in this communication. He encourages you to bring in pictures from magazines or off the internet to assist in this communication. He is interested in what you like as well as what you don’t like. This enables Dr. Pousti to have a clear three dimensional understanding of your goals. During this process he creates a “portfolio” of your pictures that he takes into the operating room on the day of your surgery.

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) Pre-Operative Appointment:

The medical history of the patient is reviewed, consent forms are signed, and prescriptions for post-op medications are given. Post-op instructions are discussed and “Before” pictures are taken. Dr. Pousti discusses size and placement of incisions ensuring the patient of the best results possible.

This is a 36 year old patient from San Diego, who was interested in an Abdominoplasty. After meeting and consulting with San Diego Plastic Surgeon Dr. Pousti, she felt confident in moving forward with the procedure, and was ready!

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) Markings:

Before each surgery, Dr. Pousti takes time to perform “markings” which prepares the patient and Dr. Pousti for the upcoming surgery. Dr. Pousti understands that every patient is unique with different body types and structure. Measurements are always carefully made to achieve the desired goal of the individual patient. Markings are then reinforced prior to surgery.

In the Operating Room:

By the day of the surgery, Dr. Pousti hopes that you will feel comfortable knowing that he has a good understanding of your goals. Some anxiety as well as excitement is to be expected.

Dr. Pousti performs the surgery in a fully licensed surgicenter with a compliment of caring nurses and board certified anesthesiologists. Dr. Pousti is with with you, holding your hand as you go to sleep.

Dr. Pousti works with a licensed and board certified Anesthesiologist, who is watching and monitoring you during your entire procedure.

The patient is “scrubbed” with a Betadine solution to sterilize her abdomen prior to operating.

An incision is made from hip to hip, just above the pubic area. Each and every patient is different, so the incision will be made to tailor your specific body type, needs and wants.

Dr. Pousti detaches the skin from the abdominal wall.

As you can see, this patients abdominal lining and muscles were were ripped and torn, producing the bulge in her stomach. This is where Dr. Pousti came in to remove excess fatty tissue.

Dr. Pousti is suturing, repairing and tightening the muscles that were torn in the abdominal wall.

Drains are inserted which will help aid in the healing process.

The skin is then tightened by removing the flap of excess. The old belly button stalk is brought out through a new hole and sutured into place.

Dr. Pousti is “lining up” the two flaps of skin with staples, making sure placement and symmetry is correct. Then he removes the staples replacing them with sutures to close the incision.

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) Recovery:

Directly following your procedure, you will be wheeled into a recovery room where trained and skilled nurses are very attentive to you, making sure you are comfortable as you slowly awaken.

It is very important to Dr. Pousti that you are taken care of and are as comfortable as possible. To ensure this, Dr. Pousti has made sure that the nurses there are ‘first class’ and exceptional at what they do.

A dressing and a compression garment are applied and worn, this helps any excess fluid from the site to drain. The drains are usually removed on average 1-3 weeks post-op.

Four Weeks Post-Operative:

The patient is doing well and recovering with no sign of infection or bleeding. Her incision is still very red, but will start to fade with time. The patient is excited with her results and happy she’s had no complications.

Two Months Post-Operative:

The patient is doing well. Her incision is starting to fade and will only get better as time goes by.

Three Months Post-Operative:

Six Months Post-Operative:

Nine Months Post-Operative:

The patient is loving her new stomach. The incisions have healed and faded very nicely. She loves her flat stomach and appreciates that the Doctor made sure to hide her abdominal scar so she can wear a bikini!

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