Do drain sites in groin leave scars?

Thank you for posting a very important question. While I believe drains in abdominoplasty are almost always necessary even with quilting sutures, there is no real reason to place them jn the pubic area. You should ask your plastic surgeon to place them on the outside of their incision. Most of us surgeons are open to this recommendation so you do not have scars in an unwanted area.

The drains are needed after the Tummy Tuck. The scar that it leaves is so small and it can be located in places not much visible. You should discuss this with your plastic surgeon.

The small scars from drains placed at the time of abdominoplasty are usually almost invisible after they've totally remodel. Personally don't use drains with abdominoplasty so this is not an issue.

Thank you for your question!  Yes - and surgical incision or drain will leave a scar.  Attempts will be made to conceal these in the most inconspicuous location and hidden.  Discuss the location with your surgeon as well as treatments to give the best scar.  Best wishes for a wonderful result! 

Anywhere the skin is cut full thickness, such as a drain site, will leave a scar.  Like all other scars, however, there are many techniques we can use post-operatively to optimize the appearance of the scar.  The danger of having a tummy tuck without drains can be much worse than drain site scars.  If the scars are hidden in the groin, they are usually not noticeable.  An alternative is to hide the scars within the abdominal scar also.  Best of luck to you!

I find that drains are a necessary evil with full tummy tucks. I advise my patients that I use them because they serve a very important purpose . They are used to prevent fluid collections that can cause a multitude of other problems. The drain holes do typically leave small marks after they are completely healed. I think that you are probably thinking that the appearance of these marks is worse than what they are. Have your surgeon show you some close up before and after photos of a tummy tuck and see what you think yourself about the marks left by the drains. 

Congratulations on your future plans for a tummy tuck.  You will have drain scars from the drain placement.  These will fade with time and usually are not points of complaints from patients as long as they have a nice aesthetic result from their tummy tuck.  

Great question! Yes, bringing the drains out down below will leave scars. They are usually small and fade well, but the longer they are in, the higher the potential for permanent pigment change at the site and even scar dimpling. Another option is the bring the drains out the incision. The only problem here is that if the drains are in a long time, it can compromise the quality of the long scar, which may or may not be noticeable depending on how low your surgeon places that scar. These are great discussions to have with your doctor and make the decision together!

Yes, drained sites to leave scars but usually these scars are very small ( and probably not noticeable in most cases). I would suggest that you communicate your concerns directly with your plastic surgeon;  working together, you will be able to come up with the best location to “bring out” the drains,  leaving the scars  as minimally noticeable as possible. Best wishes.

Hello, thank you for the question. first I will explain briefly the tummy tuck procedure, even though your doctors would have probably done so by now. The tummy tuck consists in lifting your abdominal skin from the abdominal muscle all the way from the scar in your pubic area, to the start of the rib cage, this allows for the muscle reconstruction and the subsequent resection of overhanging skin, now after the surgery, the remaining skin has to reattach to the muscular wall, but in the mean time it will create liquid, if the drain is not in place, it will never adhere back to the muscle wall, and you would end up with a fluid bag that would need to be drained, so yes drains are a must. There are some technics that implement the use of sutures, like Baroudi's and Pollock's sutures, but I personally believe them to be more of an adjuvant rather than a substitution for the drain. On the other hand, you are totally right, more and more women nowadays shave their pubic hair so there is no concealing of the drain scars, the technic of exiting the drain in the pubic area is more of the 60's all the way to the late 90's when we started to use the same tummy tuck scar to exit the drain, it heals totally perfect, and you don't have to show the lumpy scars in your pubis, I prefer them that way, and I've never had any problems with it. Talk to your doctor to see if you can arrange something like that. Hope to have been of some help. Good luck with your surgery