45-54 year old woman treated with Mini Tummy Tuck

A mother of 2 in her early 50’s who is bothered by bulging of her abdomen that shows in fitted clothing. She has a left inguinal hernia.that was repaired at the same time by general surgery. Her case is complicated by a history of smoking ½ ppd. She has a relatively high umbilicus. A traditional abdominplasty would leave her with a vertical scar in the lower abdomen from around the umbilicus, but we would worry about the blood supply to the skin below this area because of her smoking. Her upper abdomen is not especially loose and we chose to “float” her umbilicus. This is sometimes called an umbilical float; the umbilicus is detached from the abdominal wall and “floated” down slightly into a new position. A champagne groove was sculpted above her umbilicus to give her abdomen a more beautiful appearance. Liposuction was performed to her hips at the same time. EXPAREL was used at the time of surgery to decrease her postoperative need for narcotics. She is shown before and again, 3 ½ months after surgery. There is typically still swelling in the lower abdomen that will continue to improve over the next 3 months. Her scar is hidden in a “thong” position. Although it will continue to improve over the next 21 months, it is already doing well.