Before and after reverse abdominoplasty in a 44-year-old woman who had an upper abdominal “chevron” scar and a vertical midline scar from multiple past surgeries. She had abdominal muscle separation from her 7 previous abdominal surgeries and several pregnancies.
She wanted to achieve a flatter abdominal contour, which necessitated repair of her abdominal muscles – correction of rectus diastasis – with mesh reinforcement of a weak abdominal wall. Given her upper abdominal scar, she was a candidate for a “reverse abdominoplasty”, where the abdominal wall skin is pulled upwards instead of in a downward direction.
A reverse abdominoplasty approaches the abdominal wall from the top, rather than the pubic region, as for a standard abdominoplasty. Her muscles were repaired in the midline and a permanent mesh overlay was used to reinforce the abdominal wall, given weakness in her muscles from past surgeries. The abdominal skin was pulled upwards, and her previous upper abdominal scars were connected to form a chevron or peaked-hat shape.
Follow up photos are shown one year after surgery, with mature scars and a flat abdominal wall. Most patients are not a good candidate for a reverse abdominoplasty, as exposure to the abdominal wall anatomy is much more straightforward from the bottom, and most people do not have these upper abdominal scars!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
