Surgeon Failed to Perform Tummy Tuck Procedure

I just had an umbilical hernia repair by the same plastic surgeon who repaired the last one with a tummy tuck and mesh patch. At pre-op, his nurse told me that surgery would be a large incision (hip to hip), mesh replacement and a tummy tuck. I came out of surgery with a laparoscopy incision and no tummy tuck. Doctor says he never said he would do a tummy tuck (which is true) but he never discussed the surgery either. He left that up to his nurse who was also trying to fiqure out why I didn't have the incision she had mentioned, nor the tubes for the leakage removal. At pre-op,he had asked me if his nurse had explained the surgery and if I had any questions. Since he had done the previous surgery, I had no questions. I feel cheated. What can I do?

Read my review "No Tummy Tuck? Missing Scars and Had Laproscopic Incision Instead"

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abdomen hernia

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2 Doctor Answers | Asked by No tummy tuck in Spring, TX

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Poor communication between surgeon and patient

This is a tough problem. It seems as though you and your surgeon had different goals for surgery; his was to fix an existing hernia, whereas yours not only included repairing the hernia, but also removing some extra skin at the same procedure. You should ask your surgeon why he performed the surgery with a different incision in the past and why his nurse provided you with an inaccurate description of the operation. He may have a compelling reason for having performed the operation in the... more

Communication Important Between Patient & Surgeon

This represents an unfortunate situation due to a lack of communication between the patient and her surgeon. It is extremely important for both to communicate with each other at the time of consultation. This will likely result in "everyone being on the same page" and a happy patient. If ever you do not understand what is planned at surgery, ASK YOUR SURGEON.