Abdominoplasty With Progressive Tension Sutures Versus Conventional Abdominoplasty: A Comparative Study at a Third-level Institution.

BACKGROUND

Abdominoplasty is a cosmetic surgery that improves the appearance of the abdominal contour. Among the techniques used to reduce complications are progressive tension sutures (PTSs), which involve the use of sutures that fix a flap at several points to the underlying tissue.

METHODS

A nonrandomized clinical trial was performed from April 1 to November 30, 2023. Patients older than 18 years who underwent abdominoplasty were included. The variables studied were age, body mass index, comorbidities, surgical time, and postoperative complications.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight patients were included, 14 with conventional closure and 14 with PTSs closure, with a mean age of 37.6 (SD 9.1) years and 39.9 (SD 6.8) years, respectively. In the conventional closure group, 3 (21.3%) patients presented complications, 2 (14.3 %) presented seromas, and 1 (7.1%) presented wound dehiscence, whereas the PTS group did not present any complications (P = 0.067). A mean operative time of 137.8 (SD 16.6) minutes was found for conventional closure and 167 (SD 12.0) minutes for PTS closure (P ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that the technique with PTS did not present complications compared with the conventional closure. Our results are comparable with the literature.