Are Blood Clots Common After Abdominoplasty?

The quoted rates of DVT (blood clot) with tummy tuck vary tremendously. My recall is that this can range anywhere from 1 out of 40,000 to as high as 1 out of 3,500. They ARE NOT universally fatal. In fact, most are not. However, identification, when possible, and subsequent treatment is preferred.

Hi ChrissySmith,
Blood clots can include deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs) and pulmonary embolus (blood clots in the lungs). For the overall population (based on data from ~129,000 patients in the CosmetAssure database), the 30 day risk for blood clots is 0.2%, or one patient in 500.
The majority of blood clots are not fatal.
The Caprini score is a patient-centric risk calculator that can help your surgeon to understand your personal risk for blood clots. The score includes 40 yes/no questions, and can help your surgeon to identify risk factors that you may have (common ones include increased age, body mass index over 25, need for an operation over 45 minutes, family history of blood clots, longer operative times, use of outside sources of estrogen, and multiple lost pregnancies). Some risk factors, like age and family history, are inherent to you and cannot be changed. But others, like use of oral contraceptives, can potentially be modified prior to surgery to further decrease your risk. Your surgeon can also help you to weigh the risks and benefits of single versus multiple procedures on the same day, as longer OR times (while being more convenient for a single recovery) carry increased blood clot risk.
Please discuss your risk for blood clots, and how that risk can be minimized (but unfortunately never completely eliminated) with your surgeon at your initial appointment. You might choose to review the attached link, which is a review article on identifying and minimizing blood clot risk in plastic surgery patients, as well.
Hope this helps.
Best,Christopher Pannucci MDBoard Certified Plastic SurgeonPlastic Surgery NorthwestSpokane, Washington

Thank you for the question. The risk of deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism associated with tummy tuck surgery is small, but real. Your surgeon will obtain a careful personal and family history ( and sometimes additional bloodwork if necessary) to ascertain your risk factors and determine the best “prophylaxis”. Avoidance of nicotine products and/or estrogen related products may be indicated.
Choosing your plastic surgeon carefully is important. Having the procedure performed in a fully accredited surgical facility is also important.  Routine measures such as compression stockings and early adulation are some of the measures taken. Some patients benefit from use of “blood thinners” around the time of surgery as well.
Again, your plastic surgeon will be able to ascertain your own personal risk “profile” when it comes to potential deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism.  It is probable that once you have had this communication with your plastic surgeon, your anxiety level will decrease.
Best wishes.

The risk with any surgery is pretty low especially when general precautions are used like lower compression devices are used and early ambulation is performed.

The risk of developing blood clots is present in ANY surgery requiring over one hour of general anesthesia.  The risk may be slightly higher for abdominoplasty, especially if combined with liposuction.  However, I and other plastic surgeons routinely combine liposuction of the love handles with tummy tuck surgery.  The risk of fatal blood clot formation is very low.  The best candidates are patients which are at or close to healthy body weight, non-smoker, have no history of blood clots in self or family, and the surgery is kept under 6 hours of anesthesia. 

Blood clots are rare and as long as they are caught early are not fatal. Early walking, sequential compression devices during and after surgery help decrease the chances. Liposuction at the same time as a tummy tuck has been shown to significantly increase the chances of a blood clot.

Fortunately, the risk of blood clots in the leg (Deep Vein Thrombus) or lung (Pulmonary Embolus) is very low after most elective plastic surgery. If the risk was high and unavoidable, we wouldn't keep doing these procedures.

Tummy tucks do tend to have a higher risk of blood clots after surgery than other plastic surgery procedures.  There are things that can be done to help prevent them, though.  I don't allow my patients to have long plane flights (longer than 2 hours) within 10 days of surgery.  We use compression hose and electric compression boots during surgery to stimulate the legs to release a chemical that helps prevent clots during surgery.  We encourage early ambulation (get out of bed and walk around the night of surgery!).  In higher risk patients, we use a blood thinner for 10 days after surgery. 

There is a laundry list of risk factors for DVT/PE.  Being a 39 year old healthy, nonsmoker with no history of blood clots does not increase your risk of DVT/PT, but there are other factors that must be considered as well.  We use a screening tool in our office to assign risk factors to each patient, so we can prevent DVT/PE as aggressively as possible.  Your surgeon will talk to you about any risk factors she finds during your consultation.

Just know that the vast majority of women do just fine after having a tummy tuck and liposuction done.  See a surgeon who is Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  Best wishes!

Blood clots can happen but are very uncommon after having a Tummy Tuck.  I would say less than 1%.  In my practice we use all of the precautions that we possibly can to prevent them from happening.