Plastic Surgery Using Glue, instead of Stitches
Arm Lift, Body Lift, Face Lift Comments (0)
The Discovery Channel is airing Big Medicine, a new series about a father and son medical team that specializes in bariatric medicine.
That specialty handles the surgical reduction of stomachs for the very obese. Bariatric surgeries, including lap band surgery, reduce the size of the stomach to only hold a few ounces of food.
The lap band procedure puts a restrictive ring around the entrance to the stomach while other bariatric surgeries surgically reduce the stomach or bypass the large intestines.
It is very, very serious business so the patients go through many months of counseling and testing to make sure they can adapt to life after the procedure.
Able to eat very little, the weight literally drops off the patient.
After the patient has lost 100 or 150 pounds, another problem develops: loose, hanging skin that requires a plastic surgeon for body shaping, which is also known as body contouring.
In one recent Big Medicine episode, an elementary school principle had the surgery on her 400+ pound body and later lost massive amounts of weight.
But when she held her arms out, about two feet of skin hung from her arms, a condition known as “bat wings.” A drooping apron of excess skin on her stomach hung almost to her knees.
For the bat wings, plastic surgeons make a long incision from the armpit to the elbow on the underside of the arm to hide the scar.
When she returned to work, she showed the school children where the surgeons used glue, instead of stitches, in the redundant skin removal procedure.
In one test, plastic surgeons used fibrin glue on100 face lift patents and stitches on another 100 similar face lift patients. One surgeon performed all the face lifts, using the same surgical technique.
Results? The glue group had fewer complications after surgery and zero percent of prolonged swelling, bruising and hardness. But 22 percent of the sutures group had those after effects.
It’s because surgeons seal muscle layers with glue as they finish the surgery. (Read more about the benefits of glue used in face lift surgery.)
The glue also resulted in much less downtime after surgery and a quicker return to the job.
Ever had surgery? Did you have stitches?
admin @ March 11, 2009