Long-Term Weight Regain Common After Body Contouring Surgery

MONDAY, Nov. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients undergoing trunk-based body contouring (BC) surgery, long-term weight regain is common, especially in those who have previously undergone bariatric surgery, according to a study published in the November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Joshua T. Henderson, M.D., from West Virginia University in Morgantown, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to compare outcomes of consecutive postbariatric and nonbariatric patients who underwent trunk-based BC (abdominoplasty, panniculectomy, and circumferential lipectomy) from Jan. 1, 2009, through July 31, 2020. The percentage total weight loss was assessed at six-month intervals for two years following BC and every year thereafter. Data were included for 121 patients meeting the inclusion criteria.

The average follow-up was 42.9 months from date of BC. The researchers found that 49.6 percent of the patients had previously undergone bariatric surgery. From before BC to end-point follow-up, there was an increase seen in weight of 4.39 ± 10.93 percent and 0.25 ± 9.43 percent among postbariatric and nonbariatric patients, respectively. Once nadir weight loss was attained, weight regain was seen in both groups through end-point follow-up (11.81 and 7.56 percent in the postbariatric and nonbariatric groups, respectively).

"All patients tend to regain weight after achieving their nadir following trunk-based BC operations, eventually surpassing their preoperative weight," the authors write.

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