Mini Tummy Tuck

What is a Mini Tummy Tuck?

A mini tummy tuck is a procedure that treats laxity and fullness of the lower abdomen without any incision around the belly button or attention to tissues above the belly button. In my practice, this is an unusual procedure and rarely performed as most patients with soft tissue concerns below the belly button only have not had term pregnancies and are candidates for liposuction to contour this part of the abdomen. 


How long will surgery be?

Generally about an hour. There will likely be a drain placed and the patient is an compression garment for 6-8 weeks.


What kind of anesthesia will I have?

General anesthesia is used for tummy tucks because it is safe and very well controlled. West Magnolia Surgery Center, on site at West Magnolia Plastic Surgery, is fully accredited by the AAAHC. Local anesthesia in injected into the incisions once the patient is under anesthesia for enhanced postoperative comfort.


What is recovery like?

There is some incisional discomfort for 3 to 4 days easily managed with pain medications. The drain, if present, is removed when the drainage is sufficiently low-generally about a week. Incision care is Bacitracin for the first 2 weeks then silicone scar gel after that.


What are the risks?

The risk of mini abdominoplasty includes bleeding, infection, failure to heal and loss of blood supply to the skin flap. The risk of a pulmonary embolism, related to a full abdominoplasty, is significantly less common with a mini tummy tuck because the muscles are not tightened with this procedure. 


How do I prepare for surgery?

A preoperative appointment is scheduled approximately 2 weeks prior to surgery. At this time, all consents and recommendations, instructions for before and after surgery are reviewed. A long list of medications to avoid is reviewed and prescriptions are given for postoperative management.  The day before surgery, all patients are called to review final questions, confirm nothing has occurred since the patient was seen at preop that might require rescheduling of the procedure and to finalize arrival time at the facility. All patients are given ample information at the preoperative appointment regarding a time line of what to expect in the recovery process and when