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The Safety of Abdominoplasty in the Elderly
Rafael A. Couto MD, Gregory A. Lamaris MD, PhD, Todd A. Baker MD, Ahmed M. Hashem MD,
Kashyap Tadisina MD, Paul Durand MD, Steven Rueda MD, Susan Orra MD, James E. Zins, MD, FACS
Hospital
2016-02-05
Presenter: Rafael A. Couto, MD
Affidavit:
I certify that the material proposed for presentation in this abstract has not been published in any scientific journal or previously presented at a major meeting at this time. However, this project has been accepted for presentation at the ASAPS meeting 2016 this upcoming April.
Director Name: Steven Bernard
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Aesthetics
BACKGROUND:
The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety of abdominoplasty in the elderly population and determine if age is an independent risk factor for complications.
METHODS:
Full abdominoplasty procedures performed from 2010-2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Subjects were divided into two groups: ¡Ü59 years-old and ¡Ý60 years-old. Patient demographics, comorbidities, perioperative details, adjunctive procedures, and complications were recorded.
RESULTS:
A total of 129 patients were included in the study: 43 in the older and 86 in the younger age group. The median age of the elderly and young groups was 65.0 and 41.5 years, respectively (p<0.001). Median follow-up time of the elderly (5.0 months) group was no different than the younger (7.0 months) patients (p>0.07). In the older and younger groups, 53.6% and 58.1% of the patients underwent adjunctive procedures at the time of the abdominoplasty, respectively (p=0.34). Patients undergoing adjunctive procedures did not exhibit an increased association with major or minor complications (p>0.05). Median procedure time in the elderly (4.5 hours) was no different than the younger group (5.0 hours) (p=0.36). The elderly exhibited a greater American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) score, median body-mass-index (28.6 versus 26.6 kg/m2), and number of comorbidities (2.7 versus 0.9) (p<0.001). Major and minor complication rates in the elderly (7.0% & 16.3%) were no different than the younger cohort (11.6% & 10.5%) (p>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS:
There was no significant difference in neither major nor minor complications between the two groups.
This suggests that with proper patient selection, abdominoplasty can be safely performed in the older age patient population.
