Hi MrsTAB and thank you for your question. When I discuss an extended tummy tuck with my patients, I am describing an incision line that extends past the typical tummy tuck hip to hip incision. Extended tummy tucks are often recommended for patients who have undergone massive weight loss or for patients with redundant excess skin that extends beyond the front of the abdomen and around towards the flanks and lower back. In my practice the discussion of a vertical incision is entirely different from an extended tummy tuck. If you have consulted with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for a tummy tuck and have questions about what exactly he/she meant by an extended tummy tuck, I would suggest following up with him/her to review their recommendation in greater detail once again. Each surgeon has their own ways of describing their proposed surgical plan and they can differ slightly from the way another surgeon would describe the same exact procedure. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that this helps!
Thank you for your question. Different surgeons use different terminology when it comes to the variety of ways a procedure can be done. When I discuss an Extended Abdominoplasty I'm referring to how long the incision will be. For some patients, only a small amount of skin needs to be removed and the incision is short. In other cases patients may have skin redundancy that extends all the way to the illiac crests. The incision has to extend past the skin redundancy in order to prevent bunching or a "dog ear" at the end. There are times that a vertical incision is necessary, but the term "extended" does not correlate to the vertical incision in my office. Visit a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon to discuss what version of tummy tuck is necessary for you to reach your goal. Good luck and best wishes!
