Post Bariatric Surgery & Gastric Bypass Surgery in Orange County & Newport Beach

Patient Specific Questions | FAQ | Photo Gallery

View More Before and After Photos

Procedure: Elimination of redundant skin that may have accumulated over the abdomen, flanks, back, buttocks, breasts, arm pits, upper arms, inner thighs, and outer thighs.

Length: 2 to 4 hours per area (depends on extent of skin redundancy).  May combine treatment of several areas as long as total operative time does not exceed 6 to 8 hours.

Anesthesia: General anesthesia.

Place of Treatment: Outpatient surgical suite or hospital operating room.

Recovery: The recovery for skin reduction surgeries may be variable requiring as little as 2 weeks for upper arm reduction surgery to as long as 6 weeks for circumferential abdomen and back reduction surgery (lower body lift).

Duration of Results: Patients are extremely pleased with skin reduction surgeries, which provide the final step towards reaching dreams of physical and mental confidence. Patients can expect the cosmetic results to last a lifetime as long as they maintain their ideal weight.

Side Effects: 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. Due to extent of redundant skin excised, patients may experience increased tightness surrounding skin incisions and should expect a longer period for incision redness to dissipate (on average 6 months).
2. Recurrent skin laxity: Despite attempts to remove all redundant skin, patients may develop recurrent skin laxity following surgery, described as “Recurrent Skin Laxity Syndrome.” This return of laxity is due to the loss of skin elasticity, a direct result of prolonged skin stretching throughout the years of obesity. Differences in laxity in local regions of the body may be responsible for slight asymmetry that develops following surgery. This phenomenon is responsible for more frequent revision surgeries.
3. Prolonged swelling up to 3 months is not uncommon due to poor lymphatic drainage following extreme weight gain and loss. Lymphatic drainage is further compounded by extended surgical incisions required to remove the redundant skin. Mechanical message, body wraps, and external ultrasound treatments promote lymphatic drainage.

Risks: 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. Wound breakdown is more common in these patients secondary to several metabolic and physiologic disorders. Diabetes and nutritional deficiencies are largely to blame for the difficult healing of these patients.
2. Local skin infection is not uncommon in a patient who has diabetes, iron deficiency anemia (low blood count), and protein deficiency (malnutrition).
3. Pressure sores may develop in patients following prolonged surgical duration due to the increased weight of the patients lying on an operating room table. Fortunately, pressure sores rarely develop due to the precautions that are taken by the operating room staff to properly cushion all bony prominences.
4. Post-bariatric patients are more susceptible to hypothermia (loss of body temperature) due to their larger body surface area to body volume ratio. Hypothermia may lead to arrhythmias and blood clotting difficulties in the operating room. Fortunately, patients’ body temperatures rarely fall due to the precautions taken in the operating room that include: heating of the room, heating of the intravenous fluids, and using special heating blankets.
5. Seroma formation refers to the accumulation of plasma fluid in pockets created by surgical elevation of the soft tissue. This fluid accumulates due to a low blood count and protein deficiency both of which are often present in post-bariatric patients. This fluid can be a nuisance to patients requiring several aspirations in the office prior to their resolution. More importantly, these plasma fluid pockets may harbor bacterial growth and result in a clinical infection.
6. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) may occur in the legs immediately following surgery. DVT refers to the clotting off of leg veins which may result in compromised blood flow return from the legs; a more critical consequence may develop from this clot if it is dislodged and travels to the lungs causing a pulmonary emboli. Although rare, pulmonary emboli are the leading cause of death following surgery.