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Revision Body Contouring and Liposuction

Conveniently located to serve St. Louis, Missouri

Dr. Cabbabe’s revision body contouring practice has grown significantly as more patients choose weight loss surgery and cosmetic surgery to meet their goals. Not all cosmetic surgeons are board – certified plastic surgeons and even then, not all board -certified plastic surgeons have the same level of technical ability, experience and expertise. The need for greater skin removal, increased use of liposuction and long operating room times lead to significant disparities in patient outcomes, often adverse in inexperienced hands. Patients are seen weekly in our practice with revision requests after having plastic surgery locally or distant.

Common revisions are for botched liposuction with associated fibrosis, particularly when skin removal was needed and over-suctioning of areas was done, particularly the central abdomen. Many surgeons only treat limited areas of the abdomen, back and body, particularly when the procedure was done awake, limiting the ability of the surgeon to correctly treat and sculpt due to patient pain. Many times, revision liposuction, fat injections and skin removal are needed, and these are complex cases.

Revisions tummy tucks are performed regularly after prior liposuction, inadequate panniculectomy surgery, high scars, uneven scars, untreated pubic tissue/FUPA, belly button/umbilical deformities and lack of abdominal definition.

Revision arm lift surgery includes incorrect scar location, hypertrophic or keloid scarring inadequate skin removal, inadequate liposuction of the arms and chest. Upper body lift surgery may be needed in cases of inadequate removal of skin from the back and chest/upper abdomen. Lower body lift surgery revisions are done to relocate scars, liposuction the lower back, fat inject the buttocks (Brazilian Butt Lift) and remove additional tissue.

Breast and breast implant revision surgery is an additional area of expertise for Dr. Cabbabe and addressed in that category.

Make sure to do extensive research and see at least 2-3 board – certified plastic surgeons prior to any significant surgery to be able to distinguish the levels of experience and the quality of the outcomes.

Prior to Surgery

Dr. Cabbabe requests that all patients take iron (ferrous sulfate) supplementation, approximately 300 mg three times a day, for 3 weeks prior to surgery. This helps patients increase their red blood cell counts prior to surgery and makes recovery much smoother for patients.

Do NOT take any aspirin, plavix, or ibuprofen at least 10 days prior to surgery. Coumadin or any other type of blood thinner prior to surgery. Dr. Cabbabe may also recommend that you stop any hormones or oral contraceptives to reduce the risk of blood clots in the legs around the time of surgery.

It is helpful to have a recliner to sleep on for the first week or two when you transition to a bed. Extra compression garments, including FAJA’s in different sizes, are helpful as your size will decrease after swelling goes down. Female urination devices can be purchased on Amazon to be used while garments are worn.

Eat a healthy diet and avoid alcohol at least 48 hours prior to surgery to maintain hydration around the time of your procedure. Nicotine usage leads to a well – known higher rate of complications including infection and should be stopped at a minimum of 3 weeks prior. Take this as an opportunity to quit smoking forever to enjoy the health benefits long – term as well as improved skin texture with less wrinkling.

Recovery After Revision Body Contouring

Similar to the first procedure, a patient undergoing a revision body contouring procedure will experience some downtime to recover. Patients can expect a certain level of discomfort to last a few weeks after the procedure. How long the discomfort lasts depends on the extent of the revision performed and the techniques used.

For example, revision liposuction results in fewer scars than revision body contouring. As a result, patients who have undergone revision liposuction tend to bounce back faster than patients who have undergone revision body contouring or a combination of both. Medication will be prescribed to help manage any lingering discomfort as you heal.

Sometimes, patients need to remove excess blood or fluid that may accumulate at the treated site through the use of surgical drains. You will be provided with the relevant information needed to properly care for the surgical drains during the recovery phase.

While the revision surgery can drastically address the problems triggered by the first surgery, there’s no guarantee that the revision surgery will yield final results. More surgeries may be needed depending on your condition and of course, what you want your final results to look like.

After the revision surgery, it is not unusual for patients to experience side effects similar to those experienced after the first surgery. Some of the most common side effects include pain, bruising, muscle tightness, and temporary swelling. These side effects are temporary and will subside in time.

To keep these side effects from becoming severe, patients are recommended to take time off and ease back into their regular lives and activities post-surgery slowly. For the first 3 weeks post-surgery, patients should not engage in heavy exercise. From the 4th week on, some strenuous activity may be permitted. We’ll provide you with post-operative instructions that you will need to adhere to in order to experience the best results.

Contact our Office

Revision body contouring is an excellent option for those who aren’t happy with the results achieved from a prior body contouring treatment. If you’re interested in learning more about it with a highly skilled board-certified plastic surgeon in the St. Louis area, contact our office to schedule your informative consultation today.