Is This Normal? 3 Months Post MOM. (photo)

I did a mommy make over about 3 months ago and since then i had two infections on tummy tuck scar on same spot.First it was a large bump sticking out along with fever and incision very warm went to doc and he drained it out lots of puss came out i had to pack it for a month till it closed. 3 weeks later after it was practicaly closed i got it again same spot doc did the same thing still no answer of why now i found a stich coming out.Was this preventable?why does it happen?

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7 Doctor Answers | Asked by madysoph1

Doctor Answers (7)
Community Comments (1)

Is This Normal? 3 Months Post MOM

"Normal"? no Common? yes There are numerous sutures after a tummy tuck, and it is not uncommon for one or more to reach the surface skin and become contaminated before it dissolves, resulting in something like what has happened with you. Inconvenient? yes. Affecting the outcome? no That suture should be removed if it hasn't already been, and this area should then heal promptly. Thanks for the question, best wishes for a nice outcome.

3 months postop

You may be experiencing an area of slow healing because of a retained suture. Please followup with your plastic surgeon for local wound care instructions. An additional bedside debridement (clean up) may be helpful. Best wishes. Dr. Basu Houston, TX

Abscesses and Stitch Abscesses Very Common After Tummy Tuck

Usually, the deep permanent sutures have superficial dissolvable sutures above them. The blue suture that you show in your picture is probably Prolene, a monofilament thread that some surgeons use to close the deep tissue referred to as the SFS (superficial fascial system). This suture rarely gets infected. Above that, most of us put a dissolvable suture in the subcutaneous space. These sutures dissolve by having certain enzymes or white blood cells break them down... more

Suture abscess after mommy makeover

Although tummy tuck is a very safe surgery, there can be small risks for infection, scar, pain, seroma, hematoma, or wound dehiscence. From your descriptions and photos, it seems like you had stitch abscess. Some deep sutures can take 4-6 months to dissolve; sometimes, they can work their way out to the skin and cause infection. Now that the suture is removed, with local wound care, the wound should close soon.

Suture Abscess

It appears that you have a deep suture which has migrated to the surface and formed an abscess/infection. Removal of the suture and gentle/local wound care should resolve this issue quickly.

Post operative wound healing problems

You appear to have an exposed suture that should be removed. Once the foreign body is removed, the wound should heal with local wound care and conservative measures.

Todd C. Case, MD

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Tucson Plastic Surgeon

Delayed Healing After Tummy Tuck

It looks like you still have an infected suture. The suture looks like a "monofilament" which means that you will probably respond well to local care and perhaps a course of antibiotics. While not desirable these things can happen. Overall it doesn't look that bad given the relatively small size. Return to your surgeon.