Panniculectomy

Hello. I had a gastric bypass 5 years ago. I have excess skin and some fat hanging down from my abdomen. I have a sore that I am treating now in the fold.

Im thinking of having a panniculectomy. Have any of you had this procedure? If so was it an extremely painful recovery? How long is the recovery time? What did you need to do for insurance to cover it?

I have heard that a tummy tuck - not the same as a panniculectomy - has a very painful recovery. Just wondering about pain level too.

Thanks!

I had a lower body lift, which is a tummy tuck plus they do your back side as well (so even more extensive than the tummy tuck). Although I personally haven't had a panniculectomy, I think they just take the excess skin off, so it may not be that painful. Tummy tucks and lower body lifts can be pretty painful, but I think most of the pain comes from the muscle tightening and the liposuction, which I don't think they do with panniculectomies.

some (not all) insurance companies/policies will cover panniculectomies if you have problems like the one you described that won't go away with conventional treatments. You need to go to a PCP about it and make sure you have him/her document it. If your insurance company is one that covers such things, they'll want a paper trail on it proving that it wasn't responding to conventional treatments.

I had that procedure done August, 2011. It was considered a medical necessity because it was leading to hernias for me. I didn't have any problems with it. I was in one day and out the next. I needed to be careful for 6 weeks afterwards.

Hi, I had the RNY in 2010. I had the Panni in 2016. The first day was painful. I also had pain the second day. I was good after that. I had my drains removed sooner than expected. I went back to work a week after surgery.