Can You Do Muscle Repair Without a Tummy Tuck?

There are minimally invasive procedures described to plicate the rectus muscle, but it is uncertain how much this improves healing in comparison to a standard tummy tuck.   In addition, it is uncertain how the laparoscopic repair stands up longterm compared to a traditional tummy tuck.

 

I recommend that my patients undergo a traditional tummy tuck procedure, as this has been time tested and shown to provide a durable long lasting result.   I caution my patients against a procedure that might offer minimal recovery with minimal result.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Dr. Gill

Some surgeons (and they are usually general surgeons) are experienced at laparoscopic hernia repair and can do a diastasis repair using the same instrumentation.

The problem can be that if the area between the muscles is wide enough, tacking the edges together can cause buckling of the skin along the vertical midline, because the skin is dragged along with the muscle. This problem is easily addressed with tummy tuck and most diastasis repairs are done that way.

Thanks for the question, best wishes.