Change in perception of non-operated body areas after abdominoplasty in massive weight loss patients - A prospective multicenter study.

Abstract

As obesity becomes more prevalent worldwide, the demand for obesity-related treatments, including bariatric surgeries and Body Contouring Surgery (BCS) has surged. While bariatric surgery effectively induces weight loss, most patients are left with excess skin. As a result, the demand for BCS has steadily increased. Studies consistently report improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and body satisfaction of the operated areas after body contouring surgery. However, little research has investigated how BCS affects the perception of untreated body areas. A total of 241 patients were enrolled in the prospective study, 144 (34% Polish, 66% Dutch) completed the BODY-Q questionnaire preoperatively and one year postoperatively. The Total Weight Loss (TWL) before BCS was 40.3% (SD ± 9.1). Our results show that body contouring surgery positively impacts both satisfaction with surgically treated areas and overall HRQoL. The indirect body area scales demonstrated significant improvements in all non-operated body areas, except for inner thigh satisfaction, which did not reach significance at twelve months (p=0.09). In conclusion, this study shows that a single body contouring procedure after massive weight loss can significantly improve patients' perception of their entire body, enhancing whole body image and health-related quality of life.