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The Desire for Body Contouring Surgery after Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Background

Obesity has become far more prevalent over the last few decades. In parallel, bariatric surgery has been increasingly utilized as a method of treatment. This appears to be having an impact on the rate of body contouring surgery for hanging redundant skin after the massive weight loss that usually results from bariatric surgery. Little literature is available addressing how frequently patients who have undergone bariatric surgery receive or desire body contouring surgery or regarding how satisfied these patients are with the hanging skin in certain body areas.

Methods

Seventy individuals (out of 250 who were mailed the questionnaire) who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery 6–10 years previously completed a questionnaire, which obtained information regarding their experiences with as well as their desire for body contouring surgery and more general body area satisfaction.

Results

Thirty three of the seventy patients reported having undergone a total of 38 body contouring procedures. The most common were abdominoplasties (24.3%), breast lifts (8.6%), and thigh lifts (7.1%). However, subjects were not uniformly satisfied with body areas that had undergone body contouring surgery; some found the areas unattractive. The majority of patients, at least to some extent, desired body contouring surgery, often in several areas, most notably the waist/abdomen, rear/buttock, upper arms, and chest/breast.

Conclusion

Paralleling the increasing use of bariatric surgery is an increasing desire for body contouring surgery. Most patients desire body contouring surgery after bariatric surgery. However, third party payors usually do not reimburse for such procedures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA

    James E. Mitchell, Ross D. Crosby, Kathryn L. Lancaster & Heather Simonich

  2. The Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Fargo, ND, USA

    Troy W. Ertelt & Joanna M. Marino

  3. The Departments of Psychiatry and Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    David B. Sarwer

  4. The Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    J. Kevin Thompson

  5. MeritCare Health Care System, Fargo, ND, USA

    James E. Mitchell & L. Michael Howell

  6. Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, 120 South 8th Street, Fargo, ND, USA

    James E. Mitchell

Authors
  1. James E. Mitchell
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  2. Ross D. Crosby
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  3. Troy W. Ertelt
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  4. Joanna M. Marino
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  5. David B. Sarwer
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  6. J. Kevin Thompson
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  7. Kathryn L. Lancaster
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  8. Heather Simonich
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  9. L. Michael Howell
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Correspondence to James E. Mitchell.

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Mitchell, J.E., Crosby, R.D., Ertelt, T.W. et al. The Desire for Body Contouring Surgery after Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 18, 1308–1312 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-008-9557-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-008-9557-0

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