Fat Deposit in Upper Abdomen After Tummy Tuck

Question

I had a full tummy tuck and muscle repair with no lipo . Im quite slim (90lb, 5"2) but have noticed a bulge in my upper abdomen which gets worse after eating.

	My doctor says that muscle was repaired to the top and that the bulge is a fat deposit. He said he could do lipo to that area but it still wont be totally flat He and that he could tighten a bit more but that the bulge would just move higher as that is a small amount of fat on my stomach cavity. what can i do for my upper abs to be flat?

	Have attached the results of the ultrasound of my upper abdomen.

Brent Moelleken, MD · Answer

Your ultrasound shows a diastasis of the upper abdominal area.  Unless there is something unusual going on, you may benefit from tightening of this area if it is bothersome enough.

	Consult with your plastic surgeon again and discuss with him or her the results of the ultrasound and the risks/benefits or revisional tightening.

Malik Kutty, MD · Answer

Plication sutures (used to tighten the muscle layer) can become disrupted for a variety of reasons. Even though they are generally permanent sutures, things like the fascia not holding part of the repair can result in recurrence of the separation. If that is indeed what is happening, fixing it usually requires re-tightening of that area. It does not always have to be done through a large incision, though, since an endoscopic approach can be used to minimize recovery time.

David L. Abramson, MD · Answer

Although there may be some fat in the upper abdomen it sounds as if there is dome separation of the upper ectus muscles. This may have be caused by a problem of the previousplication

Fat Deposit in Upper Abdomen After Tummy Tuck

Answers (3)