What are the risks associated with a lower body lift?

  Bleeding, infection, fluid collections, poor scarring, wound separation, contour irregularity are all risks.  Many of these risks depend upon your current BMI and general health.  DVT and PE should be risks that are controlled to the extent possible with stockings, intermittent compression stockings, and chemoprophylaxis, if appropriate.  All of your individual risks should be elucidated at the consultation by your board certified plastic surgeon.

Probably the biggest risk you have in undergoing body lift surgery is...are you happy with your result?  Really.  That's not the same as saying it's the most important medical risk.  The one thing you really need to do before undergoing body lift surgery is to spend a lot of time with your surgeon, making sure that you and your surgeon are "on the same page" regarding what your expectations are and what the most likely outcomes of the surgery are.  And make sure that you include in your conversations what happens if you are not happy with your results.  Body lift surgery can complete amazing transformations for people who have been large since grade school.  Body lift patients, in my experience, are some of the happiest people around.  There are significant medical risks, of course.  It's pretty common to have some issues with wound healing, usually minor but possibly even major.  Fluid collections called seromas may occur.  Blood clots also may occur and may be fatal if they do.  Infection, pain, significant scarring, keloid scarring, asymmetry of the results, the belly button being higher/lower/off to the side compared to before surgery, distortion of the pubic region, numbness of the abdominal and thigh skin, blood loss, need for blood transfusion...these are just some of the medical risks.  Also remember that it's not just how much tissue is removed but how much tissue remains after the surgery.  Body lift surgery does not change the character of your remaining skin.  That skin is stretchy.  Because of this, the initial tightness you see and feel right after surgery will loosen over a few months.  But really, the single most important thing you can do is spend a lot of time with your surgeon long before you undergo the surgery.  Make sure you both understand each other.  Make sure you both have a plan.  It can't just be the surgeon planning and doing the surgery.  You need a plan of how you will recover safely and successfully after surgery and how you will maintain and optimize your result.