Scarpa Fascia Preservation During Abdominoplasty

Abstract

Background: Abdominoplasty is one of the most popular body-contouring procedures. Previous studies described a superficial and deep compartment in the lower abdominal wall separated by Scarpa fascia. 1,2 Preservation of this fascial plane has been suggested as a way to lower the complication rate associated with conventional abdominoplasty. 3,4 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of preservating Scarpa Fascia during a full abdominoplasty. Methods: A prospective study was perfomed, between November 2005 and November 2007, involving patients submitted to abdominoplasty, at the Department of Plastic Surgery of Sao Joao Hospital, Porto Medical School. Two groups of patients were created: classical full abdominoplasty (group A) and full abdominoplasty with preservation of Scarpa fascia in the infra-umbilical region (group B) (Figure 1) 4 . The variables analyzed were: age, body mass index (BMI), previous abdominal surgery, comorbid medical conditions, specimen weight, time to suction drain removal, total volume of drain output and length of hospital stay. T-student and Mann-Whitney test and χ2 test were used. Results: A total of 208 full abdominoplasties were performed (group A, 143 patients; group B, 65 patients). There were no statistically differences between groups respecting BMI, previous abdominal surgeries, comorbid medical conditions or surgical specimen weight (p>0.05). There were statistically significant differences respecting total volume of drain output (p recovery, reducing total drain output, time to drain removal and hospital stay.