Does your tummy tuck game plan currently feature complicated drains? If so, you might want to think about pivoting for a slam dunk with a drain-free tummy tuck.
What’s the big deal? Take a look-see through this list of drainless tummy tuck pros and cons, and you might just find that it’s well worth the switch after all.
What’s a Drainless Tummy Tuck?
So glad you asked. A drainless tummy tuck — as its name would suggest — is a tummy tuck surgical technique that doesn’t use any drains during or after your procedure. This is different from a regular abdominoplasty in that drains are typically used to control fluid buildup, and you’ll be sent home with the drain intact.
Once you reach a certain point in your recovery, the drain is removed. But until then, you’re on the hook to empty the drain and record how much fluid came out. Scrumptious.
If you wanna go drain-free, make sure you choose a plastic surgeon who knows the ins and outs of this technique.
Instead of putting you through all that hassle, a skilled plastic surgeon can use a layered sutured technique during your tummy tuck to prevent empty pockets that would otherwise be easy targets for fluid buildup, or seromas. This eliminates the need for the drain, the emptying and the recording. Win, win, win.
Drainless Tummy Tuck Benefits
Is the drain-free tummy tuck really all it’s cracked up to be? Let’s take a look at the benefits, shall we?
- You’ll have a simpler recovery process. Like I mentioned earlier, the drainless tummy tuck frees you from having to worry about emptying your drain regularly during your tummy tuck recovery. Not to mention the fact that it’s much easier to get comfortable while resting without a drain to get in the way than it is with one.
- Less risk of seroma. Seroma, or fluid buildup, is one of the most common complications associated with abdominoplasty. But because of that special layered sutured technique I explained above, the risk of seroma is generally much lower with the drain-free technique.
- Your scar could heal more smoothly. That layered suture technique also allows for less tension directly on your incision, which can help your body to heal more easily and could result in a smoother, less noticeable scar. Plus, you won’t have an extra incision where the drain would need to go, so that’s one less scar going drain-free.
So What’s the Catch?
The main drawback, if you could call it that, is that a drain-free tummy tuck requires a bit more surgical skill and finesse, so the procedure itself may take longer than with a regular tummy tuck. But you’ll be counting sheep under anesthesia, anyway, so this might not bother you one bit.
For others, a slightly longer procedure could be considered the one con of a drainless tummy tuck. But does that long list of pros outweigh this hiccup? That’s, of course, for you to decide. If you’re still on the fence, sit down with an experienced plastic surgeon who offers drainless tummy tucks to see if this nifty option could be right for you.
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