Comparison of Short-Term Surgical Outcomes Between NHS and Private Sector Abdominoplasty Surgery

Abstract

Abdominoplasty has gained popularity in recent years among the British public – in a recent poll of 5000 women, 45 % stated that they would have cosmetic surgery if funds allowed. No studies have compared short-term surgical outcomes for abdominoplasty surgery between the NHS and the private sector in the UK. We investigated whether any transferable practices exist that could improve short-term outcomes in abdominoplasty. An NHS and a private cohort of patients were identified from the abdominoplasty caseload of a single surgeon and note made of demographic, intraoperative, and postoperative factors in order to permit statistical analysis of their surgical outcome. Hospital stay, number of surgeons, time to drain removal, and total drainage volume were significantly greater in the NHS cohort, while seroma rate and number of clinic visits were significantly greater in the private cohort. No statistical difference was detected in operative time, overall number of complications, and time to discharge from follow-up. Preoperative counseling of patients to expect a defined hospital stay can motivate them to achieve this.