What Are the Possible Complications of Thigh Lift Surgery?

Thighplasty is a difficult operation to recover from.  The incisions tend to be rather long and in a very difficult area to keep clean.  A recent study supports the fact that would healing complications are high for this procedure and patients need to be informed of this prior to surgery.  However, despite these problems, thighplasty remains a reliable and reproducible method of removing excess skin and fat from this area.

Thank you for your question about the possible complications of thigh lift surgery. Like any other surgical procedure, a thigh lift has risks and potential complications. With a thigh lift, the most common complication is wound breakdown. By definition, if any part of the wound opens, that is wound breakdown; by far, the majority of wound breakdowns are less than one centimeter. Often the sutures reflect in the upper inner groin. The incision opens in the upper inner thigh because of the lymphatic channels, sweat glands, hair follicles, and generalized movement postoperatively. Liposuction can also elevate the potential risks. Most people have a good outcome from a thigh lift, thigh reduction, or thighplasty. The other potential complications include infection, swelling, scarring, scar migration, and labial spread. There is also a chance of blood clots; all these risks are present but very small. The advantages of a thigh lift, thigh reduction, or thigh plasty include having skinnier thighs and getting rid of excess thigh skin and fat. This may allow you to exercise more accessible and avoid skin chafing when you walk or run. Ideally, it will make buying clothes easier. In addition, it may help with intimate relations.
I cannot stress enough the necessity to see a thigh lift, thigh reduction, or thighplasty. Not just any plastic surgeon can perform this complex procedure. There are many factors involved, and experience in performing hundreds of thigh lifts is necessary. Your regular aesthetic, cosmetic, nip tuck plastic surgeon should not be performing thigh lifts. I hope this helps to answer your question regarding the potential complications of thigh lift surgery.

                  Thigh
lift surgery is one of the most popular operations performed by plastic
surgeons following massive weight lost surgery.  The procedure is designed to remove and tighten excess thigh
skin.  The procedure is associated
with high satisfaction rates and improved quality of life.

                  Although
the procedure is considered extremely safe, complications may occasionally
occur.  These include bleeding,
hematoma formation, loss of tissue, wound breakdown,
excess scarring, infection, asymmetry and numbness.

                  Several
steps can be taken to minimize complications.  These include utilizing an accredited outpatient surgical
facility, a board certified plastic surgeon and a board certified
anesthesiologist.  Although these
steps won’t totally eliminate complications they will hopefully decrease the
incidence. 

Thigh lifts are effective operations to remove the excess skin of the inner thigh. The outer thigh generally needs a lower body lift or a posterior body lift to address the redundancy. The most common complications of this group of surgeries are small wound separations. It is rare to have a major separation. Other complications include fluid formation under the skin and fat, bleeding, infection, loss of blood supply to the skin and poor scarring. Medial thigh lift scars can also migrate downwards and cause distortion of the vagina. This is an ominous complication that is generally due to lack of experience of the surgeon. In general only surgeons who specialize in massive weight loss body contouring should attempt these complex operations.

In my experience, the two biggest complications are residual leg swelling and noticeable scarring.  However, with good technique the risk of both of these can be minimized.

Issues that can follow inner thigh lift are collections of blood or fluid under the skin, infection, and pulling or stretching of the labia over time.  A surgeon experienced with weight loss patients is probably your best bet when contemplating this type of surgery.

The essential first step for any cosmetic surgery patient is to find the right Plastic Surgeon.  First, you want to look for someone who has American Board of Plastic Surgery certification (in US) or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (in Canada) certification in Plastic Surgery.  The next step is find that Plastic Surgeon who does these procedures regularly, not just once in a while.  More of theses the surgeon did, more experience he has and more likely it will be that the surgery turns out the way you imagined it.

However, sometimes things don't do according to the plan, and so you want to be sure that if that happens, your surgeon will be capable of dealing with whatever happens and will be able to help you get better.

Some of the things you need to consider before a thigh lift are:


scarring:  the scars can be pretty big and visible

wound breakdown:  sometimes the wound can open up just a bit.  If that happens, the treatment is wound care and to allow it to close on its own.  It's not dangerous but takes time and may be frustrating for you

asymmetry: your two legs can never be perfectly symmetrical, but they should be relatively similar

infection: this is a risk especially in heavy patients and those with diabetes


 

One last thing to realize is that although right after surgery the thigh skin will be tight, as the swelling resolves and as over time skin stretches, you will always have some looseness to your skin.  Make sure that you have realistic expectations.  Do not expect tight smooth leg of an 18 y old fit person.

 

Sincerely,

 

Martin Jugenburg, MD 

Your question regarding the pros and cons of a thigh lift is an excellent one.  The purpose of the inner thigh lift is to remove excess hanging skin and fat, and the tradeoff is an incision, either a straight one up the inside of the leg, or one hidden in your inner thigh crease, or a combination of the two.  While this procedure can create a nice result for lots of patients, I think there are some real risks involved with it that you need to be aware of, the 2 biggest being infection and a poor scar.  I think the inner thigh skin is some of the most delicate skin of the body-- it's thin, has lymphatic tissue, and is difficult to keep clean and dry.  For this reason, the risk of infection is higher than in other procedures.  In addition, the scar takes a long time (months) to settle down and may end up widened.  So what I tell patients is that if you want this procedure, your thighs have to really be bothering you and you have to understand these risks and be willing to potentially have a longer recovery than normal-- otherwise, I would consider not having it done.

As with any surgical procedure there can be complications with a thighplasty.  In some cases there can be separation and delayed healing up near the groin area.  Bleeding (hematoma) and seromas can also occur.   The most common problem following a thighplasty is visible scarring and even poor scarring .  In cases where there is a lot of excess skin and fat  the scars  extend the length of the thigh from the groin down to the knee.   In cases with less excess skin the scar may be limited to the groin area but with time this scar may migrate and be visible in a bathing suit.    However most patients who are good candidates -  that is they have a lot of excess skin and fat -  are happy   and feel that the scars are worth the improvement in their contour.

First of all, most patients are very happy after thigh lifts.  Yes, like with all surgery there can be complications. More common things are unfavorable scarring, wound healing issues, and fluid collections.