Mommy Makeover (TT, Breast Lift, and Silicone Implants) AND Partial Hysterectomy (uterus removal)?

HI Helms,

It depends on several factors: Your overall health, your medical history, your weight, and the skill of your surgeons. If all these factors are good, it is possible to do all these procedures at the same sitting.
You should have your surgery in a hospital setting, however, and a Board certified anesthesiologist should be giving you the anesthesia,.
With all that said, risk factors are increased. These include blood clots in the legs which can go the lungs ( a pulmonary embolism which can result in a prolonged recovery or even death), surgical infections which can involve your implants, wound breakdowns and a longer time overall to return to work and normal activities.
Only your doctor can tell you the risks int he most informed way.
Please discuss these issues with him/her.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Christine Rodgers

Hi HelmsHamilton,
There are practical limits to how much surgery is "too much". Ultimately, this should be a discussion of the balance between risks of additional surgery (from the perspective of time in the OR, amount of your body sustaining surgical injury, and expected blood loss) with the benefits (single surgery, single recovery). This discussion is best had between you and your surgeon.
I have not combined this group of procedures--I would have safety concerns (like the increased complication spectrum when combining tummy tuck/panniculectomy and intra-abdominal procedures) as well as practical concerns (most aesthetic surgery occurs in an ambulatory, not inpatient setting, and our local OB/GYN surgeons do not have privileges in our ambulatory surgery center).
Hope this helps.
Best,Christopher Pannucci MD MSBoard Certified Plastic SurgeonPlastic Surgery NorthwestSpokane, Washington

Unfortunately, you have not provided photographs or told us your height and weight or bra size. However, I would not recommend combining a partial hysterectomy and tummy tuck. A tummy tuck can have the complications such as blood clots, pulmonary embolism and possible death. A partial hysterectomy also has these complications. I would avoid having the two done together. In terms of breast and implants, I would need more information to give you a more accurate answer.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Hello and thank you for your question.
Typically, you can combine two or three procedures, but the goal is to limit general anesthesia time to under 5 hours for safety reasons. Estimated surgery duration varies between surgeons, and that may be one of the reasons why one surgeon may recommend combining two procedures, while another may encourages to stage it.
It is typically recommended to wait 3-6 months in between surgeries to allow for adequate healing time.
I would recommend to obtain an in person consultation with a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon to further discuss your options and expectations for best cosmetic results.
I hope this helps. Best, Dr. Karanetz
Dr. Irena KaranetzBreast Fellowship-TrainedBoard Certified Plastic Surgeon

Somewhat a common practice to perform a tummy tuck at the same time a hysterectomy is performed. Although a hysterectomy is not considered and "clean" procedure, there are no real increases in infection rates when the procedure is combined with a hysterectomy. Now adding an implant as well would be something that I personally would not consider. I would be concerned more so when an implant is added to the equation.

If you were my patient, I would say lets perform the tummy tuck at the same time but lets wait and do the breast part as an outpatient (in surgery center). You will get many different answers to this question as it is a judgment call.

Hope that helps.

Dear HelmsHamilton,
I understand your concern. It is best however that you consult with a board certified plastic surgeon to determine whether you can have several aesthetic surgeries in one session, as this would depend on various factors including but not limited to your general health condition, the type of anesthesia that will be used, and the type of surgeries that will be performed among others.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

If your two surgeons agree, the procedures could all be done the same day. Your Ob/gyn would work first, and then your plastic surgeon.

Hi, HelmsHamilton! Thank you for your question.
For my practice I would not combine an intra-abdominal operation like hysterectomy and tummy tuck because these are two separate potential spaces that must be kept as separate as possible. This may complicate the healing and elongate the downtime instead of shortening it.

Combining procedures is common and considered safe but there is a limit. Typically the cosmetic portions of the procedures you mentioned can be combined as long as you are healthy and a candidate. It is recommended to limit total surgical time to six hours. You will need to coordinate with both your plastic surgeon and OB/Gyn so that the procedures can be scheduled one after the other and that both surgeons are available and have privileges at the same facility where the procedures are to be performed. This can be done but it will take some planning.

Hi HelmsHamilton, great question. I generally would not recommend this combination. Doing a mommy makeover (tummy tuck with breast implant and lift) is common and can be performed in one setting. However, adding the hysterectomy makes it more complicated. A hysterectomy will require entering the abdomen, which would increase the risk of infections. You'd want to minimize the risk of infection especially with an implant. It would make for an overall longer surgery, which may increase your risks of overall complications, including blood clot risks. The longer the surgery and the more procedures, the higher the risks. Hope that helps.