Tummy Tuck: Q&A

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Incision Opening After Tummy Tuck? (photo)

I had a tummy tuck 4 weeks ago and every week it has opened and my PS has sutured it back together using local anesthetic. Last week he closed it under general anesthetic and it has opened up again. I am so fed up with this happening. There is no infection and I do not smoke and am a healthy weight and eat well. Please Help.

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1 month post-op open wound

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15 Doctor Answers | Asked by Loveablelashes

Doctor Answers (15)
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Incision Opening After Tummy Tuck?

Must rule out a foreign body reaction from a deep muscle suture. Otherwise try silver nitrate and red light laser therapy.

Do Not Close An Open Incision

The tummy tuck incision should not be closed again and any nonviable tissue should be removed. The area should be monitored for infection, and local dressing changes should be instituted.

Incision Opening After Tummy Tuck

Sorry to read about the troubled post op course you are enduring.At this stage the best approach will be to remove all the visible sutures, trim all the non-viable tissue (dead fat) and begin good dressing care--there are many satisfactory regimens--and allow this to heal from the bottom up, and it will. Expect about a month, and then to have a red form scar that will soften and lighten over the course of a year. It may be that once this is healed, if the scar is less than ideal a touch up... more

Incision

I would advise you to have some extra patience.I understand this is easy for me to say and much harder for you to do. This will heal

Incision after Tummy Tuck

It will all heal. It is going to take time! The other answers have been accurate. Please be patient. This does happen. This is easy to say and horrible to have to go thru this! I'm sorry. After it heals it will look surprisingly good. Sometimes a minor revision will be necessary to improve the scar. Good Luck, it will be fine! Dr. Chris Saunders

Debridement and local wound care

You have fat necrosis and the wound opening is due to the poor circulation or too much tension. The best treatment is local debridement and application of Vac. You will heal fine ,but it will take time (4-6 weeks). The traditional treatment is wet to dry but Vac treatment works faster.

Kamran Khoobehi, MD

28 reviews

New Orleans Plastic Surgeon

Debridement is needed

Hello, Thank you for the question an photo. Your body is communicating that it cannot or does not want to heal at this time with sutures alone. The most common reason for this is tissue with poor blood supply sometimes referred to as fat necrosis. When this occurs the skin has enough blood supply to look viable but the fat underneath does not. Debridement of the fat will be an important part of having your incision heal. The skin may or may not be able to be... more

Tummy Tuck Healing Problem

Hi, Sorry you're still having problems. Re-suturing this kind of wound will not work. Treatment for the kind of problem seen in your photo: The "dead" tissue must be surgically removed ( debrided). The wound will then be much larger; it will need daily wound care (cleaning and packing). Fresh pink tissue will appear (granulation tissue) and the wound will close itself (healing by secondary intention) over several months. The final scar, once healed... more

Wound opening after tummy tuck

Thanks for your question and I'm sorry you're having issues. It looks like there is some loss of tissue around the open wound which could be the result of many things. Since you have failed attempted reclosure the safest and best course of action is likely packing the wound and allowing things to heal by secondary intention. This will be a longer process unfortunately, probably requiring 3-4 weeks of dressing changes. It may also result in a more... more

Recurrent Suture Line Openings In TT After Multiple Revisions

As you can see, your Real Self team of expert plastic surgeons all agree that it is time to stop attempting to close TT suture line, pack the wound, dressing changes, and allow it to heal by itself (secondary closure). We as plastic surgeons want our patients to be happy and have every surgery work out perfectly. At times, there are complications which just must be allowed to heal on their own. This is one of those times. If you and your plastic surgeon continue... more

Better Part of Valor is To Lets Things Settle Down

Opening of the incision above the pubic region after a tummy tuck has several causes. The most common is smoking before and immediately after surgery. Patients who have scars on the abdomen like a long gallbladder surgery scar or horizontal appendectomy scar can have compromised blood supply to the skin in that region. Tension at the incision closure site can also cause the wound to separate and fat under the skin to die. Vasculitis with microvascular problems is a... more

Tummy tuck may be to tight

It sounds like there is to much tension on the incision line. It will close eventually by secondary intent. I would not exercise or put more tension. You need to work with your plastic surgeon

Opening of Tummy Tuck incision

Incision opening after tummy tuck is likely the result of too much tension or fat necrosis. You should not have this closed. It will never ever work! You need to let it heal by itself.....it will take several weeks. You may need a scar revision 9-12 later. I am not sure why your surgeon attempted multiple times to close this wound.

Incision opening after a tummy tuck

The number one reason for opening of the suprapubic incision without an infection, is too much tension at the time of surgery.The tissues swell after surgery and sutures can pull through. Once it opens up, it becomes a "colonized" wound by bacteria. If one closes this wound, most likely it will get infected and fall apart again. I personally, would not attempt closure this early out from surgery, because there's a high incidence of being unsuccessful as you found out. With diligent wound... more

Concision Line Opening after Tummy Tuck?

I'm sorry to hear about the complication you have experienced and remember answering a question from you earlier. At this point, I would suggest that you allow the wound to heal by secondary intention. This means: no more suturing of the opening and several weeks of dressing changes. You may find that it may take several weeks to heal completely and that scar revision surgery may be necessary a year down the line. Best wishes.