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Blood Thinners or Iron Before a Tummy Tuck?

My doctor puts all of his tummy tuckers on iron for 3 weeks before surgery but I am reading many doctors put their people on blood thinners , two totally different things, I am just wondering why?

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5 Doctor Answers | Asked by brenthomp in Columbia Sc

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TT & Iron

Iron administered BEFORE a Tummy Tuck can have two very important effects. The first is to possibly boast your blood count or Hemoglobin. This can obviously be of more importance in patients that combine an Abdominoplasty or Tummy Tuck with another procedure such as Liposuction. There could be more blood loss. The second reason for giving patients Iron BEFORE a Tummy Tuck could be to decrease the incidence of peri-operative Deep Venous Thrombosis/ Pulmonary Embolus (DVT/ PE)... more

Iron or Blood thinners

Iron is fine to take prior to a tummy tuck. However, under no circumstances should you be on blood thinners for at least two weeks prior to surgery. If you were on blood thinners, your surgeon ought to get a protime blood test to determine if it is safe to proceed on the day of surgery.

Blood Thinners or Iron Before a Tummy Tuck

Great question. In our practice we usually check the hemaglobin in the office prior to the procedure. If it is low, we do recommend slow Fe prior to the procedure. In terms of blood thinners, all our patients are placed post operatively on Arixtra, a low dose blood thinner. The main cause of serious morbidity and mortality in tummy tuck patients is a DVT/PE. I do believe it will soon be standard of care to place all patients on a blood thinner post op. Good luck! more

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Iron before surgery

You will some blood during and after a tummy tuck. Giving you iron will prepare your body to manufacture hemoglobin, the essential oxygen carrying protein in the blood. When you begin taking iron it takes several weeks for your body to build up a sufficient level to help speed up creation of new red blood cells, so if you will need iron, it does makes sense to begin before surgery. Blood thinners, on the other hand, are medications that make blood clots less likely to... more

Blood thinners or Iron before TT, confused?

They are 2 completely different things. Iron will help you build up your blood levels before surgery because you will lose some blood with surgery. Standard practice, especially for women with low blood levels. Blood thinners are sometime given right before surgery by an injection to help prevent blood clots in the legs, which is one of the worst complications in any type of surgery, the blood thinners can increase your risk of bleeding and not all patients are candidates for it, thanks more

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