What Can Cause a Lot of Drainage from the Belly Button 4weeks After a Full Tummy Tuck and Lipo?

Thank you for the question.

Only your plastic surgeon will be in the position to make an accurate diagnosis and determine the cause of the persistent drainage from around the umbilicus.  Treatment will depend on making this accurate diagnosis. Close follow-up will be necessary.

Best wishes.

It is unusual to have drainage from a belly button 4 weeks after surgery.  Seroma (retained body fluid), fat necrosis (dead fat cells that melt and liquify), and an infection (abscess) can create a fluid discharge.  Around the belly button the most worrisome possibility is that your surgeon used a permanent suture to tighten your muscles and now the suture is infected.  If that is the case the suture may have to be removed surgically to resolve the infection.

Sincerely,

Martin Jugenburg, MD, FRCSC

Toronto Cosmetic Surgery Institute

It is not usual to have drainage 1 month after an abdominoplasty. If the fluid is relatively clear, it most likely represents a seroma. Other symptoms of this would be persistent swelling in the lower abdomen and the feeling of having fluid underneath the skin. If the drainage is more thick or pus-like, then an infection is more likely. This may need antibiotics or even operative drainage and irrigation. You should certainly alert your surgeon and let him/her know of your concerns.