Symptoms of Skin Necrosis After Tummy Tuck?

Necrosis is the medical term for death of tissue. The most common cause of tissue death following surgery is lack of blood supply. All of our bodily tissues require sufficient blood flow to keep it alive. During the course of surgery blood flow to the tissues involved is decreased to some degree. If the blood supply is decreased sufficiently the tissue at the end of the blood supply may die. Necrosis of the skin and fat can occur at the edges of a tummy tuck, breast lift, breast reduction or any other area where the skin and fat layer has been lifted off of the underlying layer. Cigarette smoking is known to decrease the blood supply in the skin and fat layer. If a wound is showing signs of necrosis it is important to stop smoking immediately.
Although it is unlikely at 3 weeks that necrosis would develop, it is possible. You would initially notice areas of redness in the area followed by a darker color to the skin ending with black skin. The skin and some of the underlying tissue would then slowly die leaving a wound that wouldn't need to heal itself over time. This healing process could take up to 3-4 months.

An area of marginal necrosis in the middle is not uncommon.  Blistering is the most common early sign.   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. Simple wound care is all that is required at this time.