Blackening of Skin Around Tummy Tuck Lower Procedure Site. If There is No Infection Does the Skin and Dead Tissue Still Removed?

Perfectly healthy 5'5" mom of 2. Don't smoke and never have. Just got a huge amount of skin and fat removed. My plastic surging on said it didn't need to be taken care of but the hospital did emergency we surgury and I have a huge open wound now. Just wondering if it Could have healed on its own without surgury?

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3 Doctor Answers | Asked by Finally I have a bellybutton

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Blackening of Skin Around #TummyTuck Lower Procedure Site. ANS:

It sounds like you had some tissue loss from your tummy tuck, which unfortunately can happen and that you somehow ended up at the hospital and someone there surgically cleaned up the tissue, leaving a large defect. If that is the case, your surgeon was right, that you did not need a "surgery" per se. We Plastic Surgeons are used to this type of wound care and after a time, the dead tissue needs to be cleaned up and in almost all cases can be done in the office, not a surgery center...But... more

When there is dead skin and fat, it should be removed BEFORE it becomes infected.

Although lack of circulation causing dead fat and skin in tummy tuck patients who do not smoke is quite rare (<1%), it can occur. In smokers, and even in patients exposed to second-hand smoke, the risk of circulation loss from nicotine vasoconstriction leading to dead skin occurs in as many as 15-20% of patients! That is why we all ask if a patient is a smoker, using nicotine gum or patches, or has a smoker in the household whenever we see dead skin or belly buttons. The central skin just... more

Dead tissue after TT must be removed despite abscence of infection

I'm sorry to hear about your complication. Your doctor did well by removing the dead tissue. Your wound will now have to heal from the 'bottom-up'. It will be a slow process but rest assured it will heal if properly taken care of. I don't know if your PS is utilizing the help of the VAC sponge. This acronym stands for the 'vacuum assisted closure' system. It essentially speeds up the healing process by literally sucking the wound edges closer together. Once the wound edges are... more