Abdominoplasty generally known as a tummy tuck removes surplus skin and fat around the stomach while tightening the abdominal wall. The surgery is commonly performed after pregnancy or weight loss when the skin has become stretched or shapeless. A rectus or ventral hernia and umbilical hernia are common findings in women that also need a tummy tuck.  All three procedures can be performed at the same time by the surgeon. 

Let’s Understand Them Separately:-

Hernia – Simply put, Hernia means a bulging of internal organs or tissues through the wall that contains it and Hernia repair means a surgical operation for the correction of the same.

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) – Abdominoplasty is mainly reshaping of the skin, muscle and fatty tissue of the abdomen, usually by removing skin and fatty tissue. This is purely cosmetic surgery, even when combining it with hernia repair.

Is It Safe?

Pretty often, ventral hernias are called incisional hernias because their origin is related to cuts (incisions) of previous surgery. To boot to having diagnosed ventral hernia for whatever reason, two circumstances account for about 95 percent of patients interested in combining hernia surgery with abdominoplasty or tummy tuck. One situation is related to women who have had 3 – 4 children, which left them with stretch marks and an abdominal wall musculature permanently misshapen by carrying a baby. The other is the result of heavy weight loss, where the patient develops folds of overhanging skin. In either case, tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is required to correct for substantial and unpleasant tissue and skin. 

Prime Benefit

Combining the operations does make sense in terms of overall cost as well as the recovery period. The patient goes through only one surgical session and hospital stay for both the procedures.