Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in Abdominoplasty

Abstract

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism is an important and life-threatening complication associated with abdominoplasty, a common cosmetic procedure. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 100 consecutive patients who underwent abdominoplasty in an outpatient setting. Results: The complication rate was 35%. The most common complication was wound separation. No patient developed deep vein thrombosis, although 2 patients developed postoperative abdominal hematoma due to Lovenox prophylaxis. Conclusions: Abdominoplasty was found to be a safe and predictable outpatient procedure in our patient population.