Is there a high risk of blood clots during a tummy tuck procedure?

Great question.  Yes,  there is always a risk for DVT with any surgery.  It is important to prevent risk associated with blood clots by using the TED hose along with the Sequential compression device during surgery.  I keep my patients wearing the TED hose after surgery until they are up and walking.  This is a very serious issue, and if you ever suspect that you may have blood clots, get an ultrasound.  It is better safe than sorry.  I hope this helped, best wishes.

There is a risk of blood clots, or deep vein thrombosis, with any operation.Four risk factors for forming blood clots with any surgery include:    1. Age - more than 40 years of age    2. weight    3. smoking    4. Hormones(birth control pills)I think the last two are the most concerning, and make all abdominoplasty patients quit smoking before surgery, and consider stopping all hormones for one month.Good luck,Greg Sexton, M.D.

The increased risk mostly has to do with the length of surgery and the difficulty in walking around early after surgery that comes with a tummy tuck. Although it is slightly riskier than other plastic surgeries it is still not particularly risky when compared with all surgical procedures. The majority of the risk for blood clots has more to do with patient factors than surgery so in healthy people there is a fairly low risk regardless of the procedure. Get a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon near you and discuss your concerns. Best of luck! 

While the risk for blood clots are present for all surgery it is particularly high for abdominoplasty/tummy tuck.  That being said, Tummy tucks are performed quite frequently all over the country.  You should discuss your concerns about this issue with a Board Certified plastic surgeon and ask him/her about it as well as what precautions they might take to minimize that risk.

Congrads on your thoughts about surgery. With any procedure there is a risk of developing a blood clot that arises from blood not moving as fast through the veins and several other factors from surgery itself. The longer procedures carry a slightly higher risk and some feel that the tightening of the abdomen make the pressure against the veins slightly greater. I will tell you that as a practice we conder DVT prohylaxix more often with abdominoplasty than other surgeries.

Yes, of course, as all surgeries blood clots may be a possible complication.Actually for prevention we use the DVT (deep venous therapy), the injectable eparionids medications and the early walking of the patient after the surgery.There is even more risk when you combined tummy tuck with pelvic or abdominal elective surgery.Why is that ? Because when you do not move your legs you have the risk of forming blood clots in the veins of the legs.

There is a risk to blood clots (deep vein thrombosis) with any surgery.  Surgeries that are long and surgeries that make walking after surgery difficult have higher rates. Was the doctor trying to promote liposuction. There are doctors who don't do tummy tucks who try to convert everyone to liposuction even if it is not appropriate. The blood clot rate with a tummy tuck is still  small, so don't choose liposuction over tummy tuck if it is not the correct procedure for your problem. It is better not to have surgery than have the incorrect one. There are many ways to minimize risks of blood clots and a board-certified plastic surgeon can discuss those with you in person. Best wishes. 

Blood clots in the legs can develop after any surgery, even after prolonged periods of immobility (long travel flights, bed rest for pregnancy, etc).  This is referred to medically as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).  The danger of DVT is that the clots may break off from the legs and travel to the lungs, causing Pulmonary Embolism (PE).  People can and do die from PE.Prevention is the key to keep from developing DVT and PE.  The best way to prevent DVT after surgery is early ambulation, walking as soon as possible and continued walking 5-10 minutes every hour.  Ankle and knee exercising while in bed help also.  During the procedure tight stockings are applied (TED) to help blood return to the heart and alternating pressure devices are placed on the calves or ankles (Venodynes).  The stockings should be continued post operatively until normal ambulation has returned.The incidence of DVT is higher in tummy tuck procedures, because the operation is painful and the patients find it hard to ambulate and tend to lie around more.  Taking narcotic medications will also make it difficult to stay alert and awake long enough to walk and exercise.  The operation itself is also long, we know that longer operations have a higher incidence of DVT.  Before any procedure a DVT risk assessment is performed by the nurses and doctors.  Every patient is assigned a DVT score.  The higher the score, the higher the incidence of DVT.  Different treatment regimens are instituted based on that score, if the score is high enough, some patients will even be placed on medical chemoprophylaxis.  What that means is the patient will be placed on blood thinners after the procedure to help prevent DVT (Warfarin, Coumadin, Lovenox, Xarelto, etc.) A major breakthrough in pain management for tummy tucks has occurred in the last two years.  The injection of Exparel at the time of surgery, a long acting local anesthetic, has taken the majority of the pain out of the post operative period for the first 3-4 days.  This has allowed for early ambulation, decreased use of narcotic pain pill use and lowering the incidence of DVT.  I have been using Exparel on all my tummy tucks the past 2 years and difference in pain control is dramatic.  I actually have had patients walk out of my office on their own 1 hour after their tummy tuck without any assistance!

Tummy tucks tighten the tissues in the abdomen, from the skin level down to the muscle layer.  This places more pressure on the internal abdominal structures, including the large vein returning blood from the legs to the heart, the vena cava.  This can slow the blood flow back to the heart, increasing a risk of blood clotting in the legs.While this can occur, tummy tucks are done commonly in the US.  Measures taken to avoid blood clots in the legs include sequential compression stockings and anticoagulation medications during and after surgery.  As a recognized issue of this surgery, clinical studies to reduce this risk are ongoing.The risks are higher in abdominoplasty/ tummy tuck operations, but not so high that these operations cannot be done for low risk patients.

There is a risk of developing blood clots in the legs (DVT or deep vein thrombosis) that can break off and go to the lungs (pulmonary embolism) that can cause hospitalization and even death with any surgery as well as long trips and anything that reduces mobility. However, this risk is very low and, in accredited OR's, precautions are taken to reduce these risks even more. The risk with abdominoplasty is somewhat higher than most other cosmetic procedures though it is still < 1%. It is thought that the reason for this is that with tightening of the abdomen, pressure is placed on the inferior vena cava (the main vein from the lower extremities) which slows the blood return from the legs and the fact that you are not immediately fully ambulatory make the blood in the legs more likely to clot. A similar or even higher risk occurs with pelvic surgery and orthopedic procedures on the legs. All board certified plastic surgeons understand this risk and what can be done to minimize it, so discuss this with your surgeon.