Slow healing after tummy tuck. Any suggestions? (Photo)

Question

I had a tummy tuck without muscle tightening the end of Dec 2014. My body is not healing very well. I did have several openings and they are not healing well. Any suggestions?

S. Larry Schlesinger, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your photograph.  It demonstrates a very common early post operative annoyance.Holes of the nature your photographs demonstrate are usually caused by buried sutures being too close to the skin, working their way to the surface, and causing delayed wound healing.  Every plastic surgeon has his or her own favorite techniques for healing these annoying post operative problems.  These cannot be considered a complication but are just bumps in the road.All that being said, if you were my patient, I would have you wick the wound with long, thin strips of gauze with a topical antibiotic on them.  This keeps the bacterial count down so that the body can heal itself.  This type of narrow wound must be healed from the base upward.  The biggest problem with these wounds is that they do take awhile to heal.  Often the skin surface closes before the inside is healed, and this leads to wound breakdown and local bacteria buildup after you thought everything was cured.  This type of wound rarely requires oral antibiotics, but just local wound care with the packing change one to two times per day.

Robert Sleightholm, MD · Answer

Tummy tuck involves lifting the skin and fat off the muscle which divides the blood supply.  If blood flow is inadequate  delayed wound healing can occur.  The reduced blood flow can further be reduced with cigarette smoking.  The open raw wound will eventually heal on it's own.  Hyperbaric oxygen may speed up the process of healing.  The hole is most likely due to a suture.  The wound should be explored for a foreign body. If there is a foreign body,  healing accelerates with removal of the foreign body.  If there is dead tissue present this should be excised.  It can take weeks to heal.

Slow healing after tummy tuck. Any suggestions? (Photo)

Answers (2)

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