Postoperative Complications and Patient Satisfaction After Abdominal Etching: Prospective Case Series of 25 Patients.

Abstract

Conventional liposuction has provided good outcome for years. Abdominal etching (or abdominal high definition liposuction) allows the surgeon to shape and enhance the abdominal muscles by removing specific grooves of subcutaneous fat. The aim of this study is to describe the technique and the complications and to assess patients' satisfaction rate. Between January 2015 and January 2017, 25 patients (21 men and 4 women) underwent abdominal etching procedures in our department. The authors describe the technique and the specific key points of the procedure. All patients were seen at day 5, 10, 30, and 180. At day 180, everyone answered a modified Likert scale survey relating to their satisfaction. No hematoma, infection, or seroma was reported. One patient experienced a superficial pressure wound caused by an improper positioning of the final dressing. Almost all patients (96%) were happy or very happy with the overall outcome of their abdominal etching. The number of requests for abdominal liposculpture should increase in the coming years, and plastic surgeons specialized in silhouette surgery should be able to master this technique in order to add it to their therapeutic arsenal. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.