Necrosis and Sepsis After Tummy Tuck: How Long Until the Wound Heals Up?

An area of marginal necrosis in the middle is not uncommon. This is the area that is the furthest away from the blood supply and under the most tension. These areas generally take about 4 - 6 weeks to fully heal. Many times the scar will look just fine and other times you may require a relatively simple scar revision. If it is a large area such as yours a revision may be more complicated.  Treatment with antibiotics is only needed if you show signs of an invasive infection.  Simple wound care is all that is required at this time.

Before discussing TREATMENT we must understand CAUSE. We need to understand WHY your Tummy Tuck tissue died and became infected. Was it because you are or live with a smoker? Do you have Diabetes or a connective tissue diseases (such as Lupus or Scleroderma)? Was the liposuction too aggressive and resulted in destruction of the blood supply to the skin?

If you had one or more of these conditions, they need to be corrected or improved upon.

I'm not sure why your surgeons decided not to surgically remove (debride) all dead and infected tissues. Such tissue usually allows bacteria to thrive in it while antibiotics and white cells do not reach them there. A debridement procedure or two followed by application of the VAC could truly speed your healing.  These wounds cannot be stitched. They have to be allowed to heal by themselves and after allowing 8-12 months of healing a revision procedure or two may be needed to correct matters.

Good Luck. 

Dr. Peter A Aldea