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 Researchers focused on what's known as body contouring surgery,
which can range from a little bit of liposuction to a complete upper
or lower body lift that removes substantial amounts of tissue. Body
contouring is becoming more common, particularly for patients who
lose around half of their weight after bariatric surgery and have
substantial amounts of tissue hanging from their arms, legs and
bellies that prevent them from looking and feeling like they want
after shedding all those excess pounds.
"The obvious direct reason for a patient to seek body contouring
surgery is to get rid of a tummy apron and some fat rolls, but when
we look a little deeper into why patients are willing to undertake
expensive and sometimes risky procedures, some other reasons
emerge," said senior study author Dr. Stefan Danilla, a plastic
surgeon at Hospital Clinico Universidad de Chile in Santiago.
"Our research shows that the right procedure can improve
self-esteem, self-image, sex life, social performance and physical
symptoms," Danilla said by email. "That improvement is shown as soon
as three months after surgery and can last for years after."
For the study, researchers asked 112 women patients who had already
undergone weight-loss surgery how they felt about their body and
quality of life before they got body contouring procedures. Then,
researchers followed up with 57 of these patients about four months
afterwards and checked in with 84 of the women again more than two
years after they got body contouring done.
The patients averaged about 40 years old at the start of the study
and most of them were at a healthy weight or slightly overweight.
To assess participants' quality of life, researchers asked them
about body satisfaction, sex life, self-esteem, social performance
and physical symptoms. Scores could range from 0 to 100, with higher
marks indicating greater quality of life.
Women's average quality of life scores rose from 44 before body
contouring to 86 in short-term assessments done from one to nine
months after these procedures. They had a similar improvement in
quality of life score of 84 in assessments done from one year to 2.7
years postoperatively, researchers report in the Aesthetic Surgery
Journal.
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The primary shortcoming of the study is the lack of male
participants, the authors note. Only two men at the hospital where
the study was done had body contouring procedures during the period
when researchers were asking patients to join the study, and both
men declined to participate.
Another limitation is that the results are limited to one hospital
in Chile, and the impact of body contouring on quality of life might
be different elsewhere, especially because many of women's
perceptions about their appearance are shaped by what's culturally
acceptable or desirable where they live.
Researchers also lacked data on how any surgical complications might
impact the extent to which women perceived body contouring as
beneficial for their quality of life.
Even so, body contouring may appeal to many patients who are
surprised or disappointed to discover they don't necessarily look
thin or conform with an ideal body type after weight loss surgery
helps them shed most of their excess pounds, said Dr. Daniel
Kalbermatten, a plastic surgeon at University Hospital Basel in
Switzerland who wasn't involved in the study.
"Often they lost many pounds but look worse and not at all as before
weight gain," Kalbermatten said by email. "It helps them find
themselves."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2tNojb1 Aesthetic Surgery Journal, online June
3, 2017.
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