Panniculectomy and Abdominoplasty in Patients Undergoing Gynecologic Surgery

The current obesity epidemic poses significant challenges to surgical specialists striving to safely and effectively deliver medical care. In the United States, approximately 33.3% of men and 35.3% of women are classified as obese. Pelvic surgery, especially in patients with gynecological malignancies and those who require complex surgical procedures carries additional risk because of the increased technical difficulty posed by excess abdominal wall tissues and increased difficulty in providing and maintaining exposure of the appropriate pelvic anatomy. Simultaneous panniculectomy or abdominoplasty in selected patients may provide better access and visualization of the surgical field, reduce operative difficulty, and decrease perioperative morbidity. We retrospectively reviewed our experience in 15 patients undergoing panniculectomy or abdominoplasty in conjunction with gynecologic surgery. This review was conducted after approval by the local institutional review board. Complications were analyzed, and 2 (13%) of the 15 patients were found to have major complications. The only statistically significant finding for prediction of a negative outcome was an association of hypertension and advanced age with increased risk of postoperative transfusion (P < 0.02).