Tummy Tuck with High Blood Pressure?

Certainly, you can have a tummy tuck with hypertension but it is in your best short term as well as long term health to have your blood pressures under control.

Hello! Thank you for your question! There are a few medical comorbidities that contribute to a higher risk during any surgical procedure including infections, wound complications, delayed wound healing, bleeding, anesthetic risks, etc. Hypertension is one that is known to have an increased risk during a procedure. There are a number of both systemic and local host factors that can contribute to high blood pressure. Hypertension itself is not a true contraindication to having any surgical procedure, but it should always be controlled. Risks that coincide with high blood pressure, such as coronary artery disease, pulmonary issues, varicosities, etc. can certainly be worrisome as the risk for other issues including MI, stroke, etc. can be severe. Complications such as bleeding and postoperative hematomas may be increased and hemostasis obtained well. That being said, well-controlled high blood pressure should equate a minimal increased risk for the above and surgical procedures still safe and a reasonable decision. You should ensure adequate blood pressure control always, but also obtain medical clearance from your primary care physician that you are at an acceptable risk for undergoing a surgical procedure. For elective or aesthetic procedures, your surgeon may want to get you to a baseline level prior to consideration for a procedure. Discuss all of your medical comorbidities and medication with your surgeon prior and discuss these risks. Also, discuss this with your anesthesiologist as proper monitoring and medications will be watched closely. This procedure should still be very safe for you and hope for an uncomplicated course with an excellent result! Hope that this helps! Best wishes!

Hi there-
It is very important that you have your high blood pressure appropriately evaluated by your medical doctor before considering any elective surgery.
While carefully managed hypertension is not a contraindication for surgery, we would want to have proven that there is no underlying cause requiring treatment and have successfully controlled the hypertension before surgery.
Once your high blood pressure is under control, you may safely proceed with your tummy tuck.

Your OB-GYN and internist should have some insight into why your blood pressure remains elevated in the post-partum period. Get this issue managed and controlled before considering elective surgery of any kind. Your tummy tuck can wait. Long term hypertension puts you at risk for heart and vascular disease which can be life threatening.

Hello - Many patients have several medical problems who undergo plastic surgery. As long as you're cleared by your internist/cardiologist, you should be okay for your tummy tuck. The procedure may need to be delayed until your pressure is well controlled, but it is worth the wait. Proceeding with a tummy tuck with uncontrolled high blood pressure may lead to excessive bleeding and/or hematomas.

My first thought is that you should have your high blood pressure completely evaluated by a internist or a family medicine doc. There are several reasons why a young woman can have hypertension, but it's important to have the potential causes looked at, ruled out, and then the hypertension treated and controlled. This more than anything will contribute to your long term health.
Once the high blood pressure is controlled, then it is usually fine to proceed with a tummy tuck-- but it needs to be controlled before surgery, during the procedure, and afterwards, in order to help reduce the chance of a potential complication.
So it's ok to do the tummy tuck, but I would strongly recommend getting the high blood pressure looked at first.
Dr. S