Question:
No Drains For Tummy Tuck???

I went for pre-op yesterday and was told the surgeon does NOT put drains in for a tummy tuck. I was told he is so good that I will not need them. Have you ever heard of this or should I have chosen another surgeon?    — Jazzy (posted on March 29, 2005)

March 29, 2005
Drains has zero to do with how good the surgeon is, unless of course they are leaving bleeding vessels inside etc. Drainage is the luck of the draw. I'm a drain queen and it has nothing to do with my surgeon. My body just likes to keep producing fluid. Needing drains or not has more to do with how extensive of work you need. The fluid tends to be caused when they undermine the skin off of the fascia. The more undermining the more chance of fluid issues. But it still has to do with each persons body and how it deal with the fluid being created. I had drains for 8 weeks after my LBL. They came out within 2-1/2 weeks after my 2nd PS and about 4 weeks after my medial thigh lift. I have a fluid seroma in my leg that is going to be removed on Friday. I am 4-1/2 months PO from the leg surgery. It has been drained a number of times yet it just reaccumulates. If you are comfortable with the surgeon otherwise then I'd say go for it. If you had a lot of drainage after your WLS then I would not go ahead without some drains being put in. JMO
   — zoedogcbr

March 29, 2005
Personally I have never heard of it, but it could be possible I suppose. I recently had one, they took mine out 3 weeks later & after that I still swelled up...lol Good Luck!
   — Saxbyd

March 29, 2005
I've heard of not using drains, and do know of one surgeon in town (non-board certified) who does it and simply accepts that a number of patients will need to go back for more surgery. I think of 100 board-certified plastic surgeons, especially those who do a lot of post-WLS patients, 99 will use drains on every case. Dr Lockwood, who pioneered the body lift procedure, uses 5 or 6 on some cases!
   — DrL

March 29, 2005
I had 2 drains that were removed in 2 days for both my PS and my lap rny. I had very little swelling and fluid build up. I guess I am fortunate. Both my Drs. are board certified and very experienced. I was not surprised that I had such a short time with drains for my PS since I had a good experience with the rny drains. I used 2 totally different surgeons who do not know each other, or my prior healing experience. I just guess that they all have their own techniques. I never asked about how long my drains would be in, and have been surprised at how long so many of the posters here have had them. I figure that everyone heals differently, and had my Drs. seen too much fluid draining, they would have kept them in longer.
   — Fixnmyself

March 29, 2005
I had 2 drains for my tt. I can't imagine not having the drains in. I still ended up developing 3 seromas that had to be drained. Without the drains I'm sure I would have had even more. Check with some other doctors. I think EVERYONE should look at more then ONE plastic surgeon. Just because they come highly recommended doesn't necessarily mean that there the best person for YOU or YOUR procedures. Each doctor does things a little differently and you have to have a comfort level with the doctor and trust him completely.
   — Patty H.

March 31, 2005
I had a TT 1-13-05 and had no drains. I was very surprised by this, but have had no post-op problems. My ps is very well thought of in this town and the surrounding area. I also did not have any drains with my breast lift/breast augmentation, despite a major clean out job because one of my old implants had ruptured. I really trust this dr. very much!
   — betseylovelace