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Evaluation of the Neo-umbilicus Cutaneous Sensitivity Following Abdominoplasty

  • Original Article
  • Body Contouring
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Abstract

Background

Abdominal cutaneous sensitivity loss after abdominoplasty is an undesirable outcome. However, little is known in the literature about sensitivity changes of the neo-umbilicus after abdominoplasty. The aim of this study was to evaluate post-abdominoplasty cutaneous sensitivity of the neo-umbilicus using clinical, quantitative, and reproducible methods.

Methods

Patients who underwent abdominoplasty were included, whereas the control group consisted of healthy volunteers with similar demographic characteristics but who did not undergo abdominoplasty. The umbilicus was divided into five zones, and superficial tactile sensitivity and spatial orientation were assessed subjectively (score 1–4) and objectively (Semmes–Weinstein monofilament examination).

Results

Twenty patients (45 ± 12 years) operated on consecutively between April 2012 and May 2016 and 14 healthy volunteers in the control group (39 ± 9 years) could be included. Although there were statistically significant differences (p = 0.0005) in the average cutaneous pressure thresholds between the control group (0.4 g/mm2, range 0.07–2 g/mm2) and the study group (0.4 g/mm2, range 0.07–4 g/mm2), patient satisfaction after a mean follow-up of 33 ± 16 months (range 10–62 months) was acceptable (mean satisfaction score 1.8 ± 0.7). Furthermore, spatial perceptions were precise in all patients and similar to the control group.

Conclusion

Our long-term results indicate that spontaneous reinnervation of the neo-umbilicus after abdominoplasty together with accurate spatial orientation can occur.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Acknowledgements

Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation (Project No.: EG 07-032014). Swiss Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Aesthetic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland

    Mathias Tremp, Carlo M. Oranges, Dirk J. Schaefer & Daniel F. Kalbermatten

  2. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Wenjin Wang & Wei Wang

Authors
  1. Mathias Tremp
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  2. Wenjin Wang
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  3. Carlo M. Oranges
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  4. Dirk J. Schaefer
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  5. Wei Wang
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  6. Daniel F. Kalbermatten
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Correspondence to Daniel F. Kalbermatten.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Tremp, M., Wang, W., Oranges, C.M. et al. Evaluation of the Neo-umbilicus Cutaneous Sensitivity Following Abdominoplasty. Aesth Plast Surg 41, 1382–1388 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-017-0951-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-017-0951-7

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