How many follow up appointments are required after surgery as long as everything goes as planned?

The amount of follow up appointments will vary from surgeon to surgeon and the type of surgery preformed and how the patient is helping. Hard to say for sure.

Follow up visits are for your benefit not the surgeon's. There is no set number of visits and each person may require closer supervision than others may.The surgeon brings you in to make sure the healing progresses well without any complications. The time used to see you could be used to see new patients or operations but proper follow up is something ethical surgeons do. I would be very suspicious of a surgeon, usually overseas, who assures you that no post-op visits are required.