Can Tummy Tuck Stitches Open Up Years Later?

Thank you for your question regarding whether tummy tuck stitches can open up years after the procedure. It’s not common, but in rare cases, internal stitches—especially those used for muscle repair (rectus diastasis repair)—can loosen or fail over time, particularly if there's added strain on the abdominal muscles. This could lead to bulging or distention in the abdomen, which might appear as a protrusion in the upper or lower abdomen, depending on where the muscle repair was performed.

The fact that your stitches still show up in X-rays suggests that permanent sutures were likely used. While these sutures are designed to hold the muscles together indefinitely, they can sometimes stretch or loosen due to factors like:

Weight gain or fluctuations
Physical strain or heavy lifting
Aging and muscle weakening over time
If you're noticing abdominal distention or a bulge years after your tummy tuck, it's a good idea to consult with your plastic surgeon or a specialist to determine if this is due to muscle separation or a potential hernia. An evaluation, potentially with imaging like an ultrasound or MRI, can help identify if the muscle repair has loosened or if another issue, such as visceral fat accumulation or scar tissue, is causing the distention.

In summary, while it's not common, internal stitches from a tummy tuck can loosen or stretch over time. I recommend seeking a professional evaluation to get a clear diagnosis. Even better, discuss your concerns with your plastic surgeon.

Sincerely,
Dr. Katzen

Sadly, no cosmetic surgery lasts forever and both time and gravity press on relentlessly. This means that even though the sutures are still present, your tissues have continued to age and lose their firmness. This causes a recurrence of the distension

It good to know that your physician used permanent suture to repair the diastasis. This is essential to preventing recurrence. However, the tissue around the repair can continue to weaken. And in some cases the tissues are just poor genetically so weakness will be a continuing problem. So it's not the suture it's the surrounding tissue.

Mishelle 143Those internal sutures are only thought to hold your internal tissue layers together while they heal strongly. That process happens over the first few months after surgery. Once the fibrous tissue layers heal together, they have more strength than the sutures did. So it shouldn't matter if those sutures "pop," loosen, come untied, etc.As with most cosmetic plastic surgery, no matter what the surgeon achieves, your body continues changing over the years. If you have some concerns, go in for a consultation in-person. You'll get a complete evaluation and opinions about what you need.

The more time that passes from your surgery the less likely a chance of the suture line disrupting. This is because initially the strong row of sutures is preventing relapse and as time goes on, your own scar tissue takes over to keep your abdomen flat. Of course if one has a significant increase in weight manifested in an enlarging abdomen, the muscles will again stretch out. This too would be the case with a subsequent pregnancy.
Lastly, the sutures show up on x ray because most surgeons use a permanent non- absorbable suture for the muscle wall repair. Don't worry.

The muscle repair achieves its full strength of repair after 8 weeks of healing.  After that the stitching doesn't matter anymore because the scar tissues hold you together.   Your upper abdomen can become fuller because of aging, weight gain and stretching of the tissues.