Buttock Augmentation

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1. Am I a good candidate for buttock augmentation surgery?
2. What does buttock augmentation surgery involve?
3. How do I plan my buttock augmentation surgery?
4. How do I prepare for buttock augmentation surgery?
5. What results can I expect after buttock augmentation surgery?
6. Where will my buttock augmentation surgery be performed?
7. What type of anesthesia will be used for my buttock augmentation surgery?
8. What should I expect after buttock augmentation surgery?
9. When will I be able to return to work following buttock augmentation surgery?
10. Are there any side effects associated with buttock augmentation surgery?
11. Are there any risks associated with buttock augmentation surgery?

Am I a good candidate for buttock augmentation surgery?

You may be a good candidate for buttock augmentation surgery if you have a flat bottom in jeans/clothes or if you have lost your back/buttocks or lateral buttock silhouette. When observed from the side, patients may notice replacement of the back buttock natural silhouette involving the gentle back curve of your back onto the buttocks with a more flattened silhouette. On front view, the patient may notice replacement of the lateral buttocks curve with a less desirable double hump appearance. Increasing flank and lateral thigh prominence following excess weight gain and concurrent loss of buttocks projection creates the undesirable changes and increasing buttocks droop. Individuals who have drooping of the buttocks region and flattening of the buttock cheeks due to aging can benefit from implant augmentation surgery. Patients must be in good general health, both physically and emotionally, in order to pursue buttock augmentation surgery.

What does buttock augmentation surgery involve?

To perform buttock augmentation surgery, parallel incisions are made along the intergluteal crease (otherwise known as buttocks crack) and which extended superiorly and laterally following the natural curve of the buttocks mound. This incision is dissected down to the gluteus muscle, which is released over its superficial fibers to allow for creation of symmetric pockets within the muscle. A semi-solid silicone implant is then inserted into each pocket. The silicone implant is fit tightly in order to prevent implant migration. The dissected incision is then repaired in layers and includes the superficial fibers of muscle previously released as well as the soft tissue and the buttocks skin. Prior to closure, a large drain is placed and secured in order to remove any postoperative fluid accumulation. Finally, an expanded buttocks tape is applied to the incision lines and maintained for two weeks in order to minimize shear stresses on the implant and surgical incision lines.

How do I plan my buttock augmentation surgery?

On your initial visit, your surgeon will evaluate your health status by obtaining blood work and requesting a preoperative clearance from your primary care physician. Patients with underlying medical conditions will have to optimize their health status prior to proceeding. Patients with difficulty breathing or underlying pulmonary conditions, may not be found suitable for this surgery as it requires prolonged duration of lying on your stomach. In addition, smokers will be asked to quit smoking for 4 weeks prior and 6 weeks following surgery. Finally, you will need to arrange for a friend or a spouse to care for any small children who may need to be lifted since you will be sore for the first couple days following surgery.

How do I prepare for buttock augmentation surgery?

Since your surgery will require general anesthesia, you must take several precautions prior to surgery. First, you will have to avoid eating and drinking after midnight on the day before surgery. This precaution ensures that your stomach is clear of digested foods that could potentially be aspirated into your lungs during induction of anesthesia. Since, you will have anesthetic medications administered throughout the case, you will remain groggy for several hours and will require a ride to and from the surgery center. You should choose a caretaker who is conscientious and who can spend the first night with you. As you will have to avoid sitting upright for the first two weeks, you should also ensure that your ride has a generous back seat that you can lay on your stomach for the ride home.

What results can I expect after buttock augmentation surgery?

Buttock augmentation surgery will lead to enhancement of the buttocks shape and improved projection of the buttocks contour. Patients are usually extremely satisfied with their immediate results and enjoy a lifetime of aesthetically balanced lower back to buttocks silhouette. A thorough preoperative assessment, safe intraoperative course, and explicit postoperative instructions and monitoring with frequent visits ensure that patients experience a speedy recovery and a return to a more productive and rewarding life. Patients are extremely pleased with buttocks augmentation surgery and radiate increased physical and mental confidence.

Where will my buttock augmentation surgery be performed?

Buttocks augmentation surgery can be performed at an office-based surgical facility, outpatient surgical facility, or at a hospital operating room. If your operation is performed at an office-based surgical facility, it is of utmost importance for patients to make sure that a surgical accreditation body such as AAAASF accredits the office-based facility.

What type of anesthesia will be used for my buttock augmentation surgery?

Since your surgery will require intra-muscular dissection and placement on your stomach for a prolonged period, general anesthesia will be required.

What should I expect after buttock augmentation surgery?

Patients can usually resume light activity several days following surgery. Patients may experience numbness of the buttocks skin overlying the implant that disappears over the first few days after surgery. Pain medication and antibiotics will be prescribed by your surgeon. Patients will wear both a specialized tape and garment over their buttocks region to secure the placement of the silicone implant during the swelling phase immediately following surgery. Patients may find most constraining the inability to sit upright for the first two weeks following surgery. In addition, patients are encouraged to sleep on their stomach for the first two weeks following surgery. Patients are allowed full physical activity and wearing of routine undergarment four weeks following surgery.

When will I be able to return to work following buttock augmentation surgery?

Patients can usually return to work within two week following surgery when swelling has resolved and patients are allowed to sit in an upright position. Patient’s who have more physical jobs may return to work four weeks following surgery.

Are there any side effects associated with buttock augmentation surgery?

Side effects are events that may be experienced by patients as a result of your surgery and should not be considered adverse events. Our patients are counseled regarding these effects and if experienced they are tolerable and often temporary in duration.

1. Bruising/Swelling: Temporary bruising and swelling usually occurs after surgery and greatly diminishes within a few weeks after surgery. Bruising and swelling is minimized by placement of drains which remove any accumulation of fluid and wearing of compression garments over the first two weeks.
2. Numbness: Patients may have a temporary loss of sensation in the buttocks swelling due to swelling following surgery. This numbness usually disappears within a few weeks after surgery.
3. Scarring: Separate incisions are used to place buttock implants with the incision lines partially in the gluteal crease ( i.e. buttock crack). Due to moderate degree of tightness in the buttocks region, incisions may be red for a few months, but incisions become less apparent over time and fade to a thin white line. It is important to acknowledge that smoking impedes the healing process and will result in more prominent surgical scars.
4. Asymmetrical buttocks: An uneven appearance of the buttocks may result if the buttock is asymmetric preoperatively. Your surgeon will make all attempts to compensate for any asymmetry by using different sized implants when necessary.

Are there any risks associated with chin surgery?

Risks are unwanted events that may occur during or following surgery. These events are recognized as “complications” but their occurrence is minimized by appropriate patient selection, proper surgical decision making, effective surgical technique, and thorough preoperative and postoperative patient management.

1. Sciatica, or pain along the back of the upper leg, may become apparent following surgery but this is usually temporary and subsides over several weeks to months.
2. Migration of the implant may occur in theory following placement of buttocks implants although this is not a commonly observed event. Lack of migration difficulties is likely secondary to a tight intramuscular pocket created during surgery. Concerns of migration are intuitive to patients as they are concerned about “all the sitting” on their implants. Despite above concern, four weeks of avoiding prolonged period of “sitting” is adequate to establish implant position.
3. Infection: An infection can occur after buttocks augmentation surgery. An infection may result in disruption of surgical incision lines, extrusion of implant, and may leave the patient with an open wound. Prolonged antibiotics and possible removal of the implant may be required to fight an infection and to prevent further extension of the infection. Risk of infection is minimized by using sterile technique, using intra-operative antibiotics, and sealing all incisions sites so that bacteria can’t get in through external contact. In addition, infections are less likely in patients who don’t smoke cigarettes or in smokers who quit smoking for at least 1 month prior to surgery. Finally, buttock implant infection can be minimized by avoiding unnecessary compression of the implant by sleeping on your stomach at nights.
4. Pulmonary embolism: Blood clots may form in leg veins during any surgery when the patient is under general anesthesia. Patients with a leg vein clot will complain postoperatively of pain in their calves. Patient’s with this complaint should be taken seriously and treated if a vein clot is diagnosed. Early treatment of patients with a deep leg vein will avoid migration of leg vein clot to the heart and lungs causing pulmonary embolism. Even though pulmonary emboli are rare, pulmonary emboli are the leading cause of death after surgery. Pulmonary emboli must be detected early by performing a CT Scan and should be treated urgently.