Autoprosthesis Buttock Augmentation During Lower Body Lift

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of bariatric surgery, patients with multiple body contour deformities have become more common in plastic surgery practice. Most of the deformities involving the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks can be effectively corrected with belt lipectomy and lower body lift. A common problem with this procedure is postoperative loss of gluteal projection and resulting flattened buttock contour, which is directly proportional to the extent of lower body lift achieved. The use of local myocutaneous flaps to provide coverage for the lumbosacral defects is a common plastic surgery procedure. The authors have used these techniques to create an autologous buttock implant for additional projection during a lower body lift. A local myocutaneous flap originating within the regularly excised supragluteal tissue is rotated caudally to function as an autologous buttock implant. This flap has reliable circulation, can be custom designed for each patient, requires minimal additional operating time, and allows the creation of more than one flap if necessary. This article describes the results of this procedure used for 20 consecutive women. There were no major complications, and the most common minor complications included delayed wound healing and local hardness in the area, suggesting fat necrosis, which resolved without intervention in a few months. High patient satisfaction combined with a low complication rate suggests that this reliable, versatile technique nicely complements the lower body lift procedure.