Tummy Tuck Incision Opening Up Holes 8 Weeks Post Op? (photo)

Hello and thank you for the question. Wound breakdown after tummy tuck can be from a variety of reasons, including excessive tension on the incision from taking too much skin, poor blood supply from aggressive liposuction, and smoking among others. I would closely follow with your surgeon. These wounds should heal spontaneously with local wound care. Once everything has healed, then a revision surgery can be done in a delayed fashion to correct the widened scar. I would keep the area clean and avoid any strenuous activity/lifting and smoking (if you are a smoker). Your surgeon is the best person to talk to.
Pejman Aflaki, M.D.

Johns Hopkins-trained plastic surgeon

Sorry to hear about your problem. It appears that you are having a reaction to your sutures. Your body is trying to "spit the sutures", which is a foreign body. Options include local wound care and antibiotic ointment, or your surgeon can excise the suture knots, and place skin sutures and no buried sutures. This does happen in tummy tucks as the deeper sutures begin to dissolve. Follow-up with your plastic surgeon to address this issue.

The time and the appearance of the photograph would make me think that suture material deep to the skin is making its way to the surface. This should heal with adequate wound toilet.

Hi, thanks for your question. It’s concerning to have holes reopening at 8 weeks post-op, but it can happen due to various factors like poor circulation or tension on the incision. These holes should heal, though it might take longer than expected. Keeping the area clean, following your surgeon's wound care instructions, and avoiding strain is essential.
Make sure to stay in close contact with your plastic surgeon. They may suggest wound treatments or other options to help with healing. If infection or delayed healing is suspected, further evaluation may be necessary.

I am sorry to hear about the complication you are experiencing. These types of complications can be quite distressing to patients; unfortunately, sometimes the wounds do look worse before they begin to look better.Close follow up with your plastic surgeon will be in your best interests; sometimes removal of a exposed suture and/or removal of any unhealthy tissue will expedite healing. In my opinion, a "wound care specialist" referral is not necessary assuming you are under the care of a well experience board-certified plastic surgeon.Wound care regimens will differ from one plastic surgeon to another. Generally, this will involve application of some type of sterile dressing ( in my practice I use a non-stick dressing covered by a sterile dressing). You should have peace of mind that these types of wound healing problems generally go on to heal over the course of the next several weeks, often without long-term sequelae. Also important to concentrate on a healthy diet, including good protein source. Sometimes (depending on the width of the open wound and the appearance of the scar in the longer term), scar revision surgery may be helpful down the line. Best wishes.

Hard to tell much from a few inches of scar photo.

Likeliest seems that these are "stitch abscesses" or localized infections related to undissolved sutures,  There are other possibilities that might be more apparent on a photo showing the entire abdomen. At any rate, a visit to the surgeon is in order. If there are sutures in the affected area, they should be removed to hasten up the healing. 

All the best. 

The posted photo shows wound dehiscence and fat necrosis. This will heal will good wound care over the next few months. 

Typically when this kind of thing happens at this stage of healing it is because the suture material used to close the wounds had a bit of contamination and the body is expelling it.  Depending upon what kind of suture material your surgeon used, it could be around for another week or so, or another few months, or it may be the kind of suture that doesn't absorb and must be removed if it becomes exposed or contaminated.  Ask your surgeon what kind of sutures he used and if they will eventually go away on their own.  This is not all that uncommon, believe it or not, and some of it also has to do with the nature of tummy tuck surgery itself.  We lift up big sections of the skin separating it from most of its normal blood supply and then we put a lot of tension on it to make the tummy flat and tight.  These kinds of things sometimes compromise the ability of the tissues to heal, and it can result in these kinds of spotty wound healing issues.   The good news is that usually with meticulous and patient wound care and cleaning and dressing, these things heal up, the scar is still acceptable, and the end result is still excellent.  In the event that we don't like the scar, we can just revise the areas we don't like under local anesthesia once everything heals and stabilizes.  The main thing is to not lose hope over this, and don't regret having the surgery.  Despite these things, tummy tuck still remains one of the highest patient satisfaction procedures I do in my practice, because in the end, we get control of these things, and the results are great.  Good luck.

No matter what the cause of these holes, they should heal with regualr wound care. Although they are a nuisance, they should not be cause for feeling that your surgery was a mistake. And it is much better for any fluid or stitches that are causing the problem to come out rather than remain in place and cause further problems. Please see your plastic surgeon who will help you take care of these issues. Good luck to you.