EARLY COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING ABDOMINOPLASTY - TOWARDS BETTER PATIENTSELECTION

A retrospective review of 76 abdominoplasty procedures, carried out ov er a period of 32 months, using the Regnault ''W'' technique, is prese nted. Early postoperative complications and possible predisposing fact ors were evaluated. The overall complication rate was 11%. Skin necros is occurred in 8% of cases and was the most frequent complication. Hea vy growth of a pathogenic organism was found at all sites of skin necr osis, and Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest pathogen. A higher i ncidence of complications was recorded in patients who were above idea l weight, or had concurrent disease. In contrast with previous studies , there was little difference in complication rate between smokers and non-smokers.