What are "Dog Ears" when Referring to a Result of Surgery?

"Dog ears" are simply the excess skin and sometimes soft tissue at the very corners of the incision.  This is caused by the excess tissue being bunched up at the very ends of the incision.  After excision of an elliptical wedge, the area is closed as a straight line.  Sometimes, there is still a small amount of redundant tissue at the very end of the incision, termed "dog ears".  

It is not uncommon to have these at your incisions immediately after your surgical prcedure.Often times, these improve or go away with time.  If they remain after several months, it is possible to simply excise the small excess skin at the edge of the incision under local anesthesia, sometimes in the office, and give a flattened, improved appearance after excision.  

I hope that this helps!  Thank you for the question!

 

Based on the amount of your abdominal soft tissue, there may be areas on the sides of the incision that require additional liposuction or reshaping. These areas are often left after the first surgery in order to maximize the size of your scar and to help with blood supply. We often see patients with dog ears from previous surgery and revise them as needed. Best, Dr. Karamanoukian

Dog ears are abnormal bulges of tissue that typically
occur along the ends of surgical incisions. This problem occurs for a variety
of reasons, including discrepancies in length of the opposing wound borders and
wound closures around curved contours.

Dog ears can occasionally be seen following abdominal
wall panniculectomy. When this occurs, secondary surgery may be necessary. In
most cases, this involves a simple excision of the dog ear under local
anesthesia. In other cases where the dog ear is large and extends posteriorly
towards the back, correction may require extension of the incisions in a
posterior direction. In some cases, where an abnormal roll of tissue is present
the incision may extend to the midline of the back.

Although every effort is made to avoid dog ears during
the primary surgical procedure, this complication is occasionally unavoidable.
When this situation arises it’s important to discuss your options with your
plastic surgeon. Your surgeon should be able to formulate
a treatment plan that addresses your concerns.