Role of plastic surgery

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4283

Published 2 November 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4283
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4283

Letters

Surgery for obesity

Role of plastic surgery

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

Leff and Heath identify the need for a multidisciplinary approachin the surgical management of massive weight loss but do notinclude plastic and reconstructive surgery.¹ In many patientsthe skin envelope re-drapes and tightens sufficiently to avoidbody contouring surgery, but 20-40% of patients will need plasticsurgical correction of excess and hanging tissues.²

Folds of tissue can interfere with function, develop fungalinfections in the recesses, and are unsightly. Surgical correctionentails staged and sometimes long operations.

Patients embarking on bariatric surgery need to be informedof all possible outcomes. In our hospital, plastic surgeonsare an integral part of the team, and patients are given a comprehensiveinformation leaflet on body contouring after massive weightloss at the initial consultation for bariatric surgery.

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4283

Christopher Abela, SpR in plastic surgery¹, Rishi Sharma, CT1 in plastic surgery¹, Mark Soldin, consultant in plastic surgery¹

¹ St George’s Hospital, London SW17 0QT

drchrisabela@googlemail.com

Competing interests: None declared.

Leff DR, Heath D. Surgery for obesity in adulthood. BMJ 2009;339:b3402. (22 September.)[Free Full Text]
Gusenoff JA, Rubin JP. Plastic surgery after weight loss: current concepts in massive weight loss surgery. Aesthetic Surgery Journal 2008;28:452-5.[CrossRef][Medline]