Archive for the ‘Body’ Category

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Your BMI and Surgery

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Often times in my Louisville Plastic Surgery practice I encounter patients who want to know if they need to loose weight before surgery. This is particularly true for those seeking a Louisville Tummy Tuck or Louisville Liposuction.

Your BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a good tool to use to help answer this question. A normal BMI runs from 18 to 24. Anyone in this category is an acceptable candidate for surgery. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29. Patients in this category are also good candidates.

When the BMI gets above 30, we need to take a closer look. At a BMI of 30 a person is about 35-40 pounds overweight. BMI’s of 30-40 land one in the “obese” category. Folks in this range can safely have surgery, and do everyday, but their medical history becomes more pertinent and they may be better served having surgery in a hospital setting as opposed to an outpatient setting.

Patients with a BMI above 40, which is about 100 lbs overweight, are typically not the best candidates for elective surgery in my opinion. These cases need to be considered very carefully.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Tanning after Surgery

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

In my Louisville Plastic Surgery practice a common question is “When can I tan again?”  It seems like this question is most common after a Louisville Breast Augmentation or a Louisville Tummy Tuck.

When a surgeon wounds the skin by making an incision, the tanning cells, your melanocytes, are prone to produce pigment along the edges. This is particularly true for darker skin types. That is why some fresh scars are darker than the skin around them. If you get into a tanning bed and expose the wound to more tanning stimulus, it very well may result in your scar becoming hyper-pigmented (very tan).

My advice is to never get into a tanning bed, but if you are going to at least wait 6 weeks after surgery or keep your incision covered.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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“Mini” procedures

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

In my Louisville Plastic Surgery practice there have been a lot of “Mini” procedures hit the Plastic Surgery scene in recent years.

Mini type procedures are legitimate and do have a place in our anti-aging repetroire. BUT…”Mini” procedures also tend to produce “Mini” results. Most of these procedures are related to Louisville Tummy Tucks and Louisville Facelifts. Conceptually Mini is great. The surgery is less invasive, the recovery shorter and easier, less down time and less cost. Can’t beat that!

The problem comes when a Mini operation is applied to a patient whose starting point exceeds the capabilities of what the Mini version was intended to handle. So, as appealing as they are, as you go to your consultations and learn about your options, don’t become blinded by the allure of the “Mini”. Remember, Mini procedures were not intended to fix “Maxi” problems. Mini procedures and maxi problems make for unmet expectations and unhappy patients.

Lee Corbett, MD

Louisville, KY Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

Posted in Body, Face | 1 Comment »

Going Home after a Tummy Tuck

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

After a Louisville Tummy Tuck, the question of an overnight stay vs. going home frequently comes up.

Reasons to stay: A tummy tuck, aka Abdominoplasty, is a pretty big operation. They typically take 2 or 3 hours or longer. My take on staying is that it provides for good nursing care which translates into pain control and early mobility which helps keep complications at bay. The cost is minimal in the overall scheme of things and a lot of surgeons think it’s safer.

Reasons to go home: You won’t get woken up all night, you can be in your own bed, and you might simply hate hospitals. It does save a  little money. We give you narcotics and I use pain pumps so a lot of patients don’t feel like they need to stay for pain control reasons.

In the end, there are no set rules. I let some folks go home and ask others to stay. A recent study published in the Plastic and Reconstructive Journal looked at this question and found that complications were no higher for the patients who went home vs. the ones who stayed overnight.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

all posts on the blog are presented by Louisville Tummy Tuck surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett

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Drains and Plastic Surgery

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

If there is one constant in my Louisville Ky cosmetic surgery practice, it is the dislike of Drains.

Drains are round or flat tubes that are placed in surgery. They exit through the skin and empty into some form of reservoir. Patients don’t like them at all but they are necessary “evils” following procedures like Louisville Tummy Tucks and Louisville Facelifts.

During surgery if we elevate the skin, as in a facelift, breast lift, or tummy tuck from the underlying muscles, our body will leak serum into that new space. Serum is basically the watery part of our blood. If there is no method to evacuate that fluid, it will form a collection called a seroma. Seroma can cause a variety of problems and so we do our best to avoid them. Thus,  the drain. The drains are placed and serve as an exit route for the fluid. They stay in after surgery anywhere from 12 hours to a week or two depending  on the procedure. They are typically removed not based on time but on output.

So, while they are not the most popular part of cosmetic surgery, they do serve a valuable purpose in helping you achieve a great surgical result.

Lee Corbett, MD
www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Who is YOUR cosmetic surgeon?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

I just read an interesting article in this months American Society of Plastic  Surgeons  journal. It looked at just exactly who was providing Cosmetic Surgery services in Southern California. Here’s a snapshot of what was found. 

Doctors providing Liposuction, the second most commonly performed cosmetic surgery in this country, came from a variety training backgrounds, some surgical and some not. The fields include Plastic Surgeons, ENT, Dermatology, Family Practice, Ophthomology, General Surgery, Ob-Gyn, Oral Surgery, ER, Radiology, Pathology, and Urology. The eye opening thing, in my opinion, is that about half of the represented specialties had no formal surgical training in their residencies. They learned Liposuction at weekend courses.

When you are considering cosmetic surgery, you need to take a close look at your surgeon’s credentials…they may not be what you think they are.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Combining Cosmetic Procedures

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Here in my Louisville Plastic Surgery office we are seeing our usual “Spring Rush”.  More than ever, it seems like patients are wanting to do more than one operation simultaneously. Common examples are a Louisville facelift with a blepharoplasty or a Louisville Breast Reduction with a Lousiville Tummy Tuck.

My opinion on combining procedures is based on many factors. First, I look at your overall health status. Secondly, I look at the scope of the procedures we are planning and their physiological impact, and finally we need to consider how much time it will take to get you in and out of the O.R.

My advice is to come in for a consultation, let me see your “wish list”, then we’ll take a look at your starting point. I can then map out a plan and we can then decide the feasability. Our consultations are complimentary.

Lee Corbett, MD

Louisville KY. Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Posted in Body, Breast, Face, General | No Comments »

Liposuction: Ultra Sonic

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Back in about 1996, when I was doing my Plastic Surgery Residency, Ultra Sonic Liposuction was just hitting the scene and was all the rave.

In this technique, a solid probe is inserted into the fatty area to be treated. Ultra Sound waves are transmitted down the probe and pass into the fatty tissue. The physics are sort of complicated but in the end, the sound waves cause the fat cells to implode by increasing the pressure surronding the fat cell. Thus, the fat is broken down and then can be aspirated more easily using standard liposuction equipment.

The advantages of Ultrasonic Liposuction are the ability to treat large volumes of fat with minimal blood loss, less bruising, and possible skin retraction. The disadvantages stem from the heat the solid probe generates. The ultrasound waves make the probe extremely hot which necessitates larger incisions to keep from burning the skin edges and if the end of the probe hits the under surface of the skin it can burn a hole in the skin. These issues are not present with typical liposuction.

Ultrasonic Suction is still used but it’s popularity has declined substantially.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Liposuction: Tumescent Technique

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

The “Tumescent Technique” is probably the way most people have heard of  in terms of Louisville Liposuction. This is because  the word “Tumescent” is often used to describe any technique that involves the use of wetting solutions.

But, this really isn’t accurate. The Tumescent technique of Louisville Liposuction is very specific in that the surgeon will infiltrate 3 to 4 times the amount of wetting solution as he/she plans to suction out. So a planned suction of 1000 cc’s calls for the infiltration of 3 to 4000 cc’s of wetting solution.

This technique is the preferred one if general anesthesia is not going to be used because it allows for substantially larger amounts of lidocaine to be used. It also keeps the blood loss to about 1% of the volume aspirated.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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Liposuction: Superwet Technique

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

This is my preferred technique for Louisville Liposuction…the Superwet Technique.

The super wet technique expands the concept of using the wetting soloutions, which is a mixture of Lactated Ringers, a type of IV fluid, Lidocaine for pain control, and Epinephrine which causes vasoconstriction to minimize blood loss. In this method, I add wetting solution to achieve a 1:1 ratio of infiltrate to aspirate. In other words, if I anticipate suctioning out 2000 cc of fat, I will first infiltrate the area(s) with 2000 cc’s of wetting solution. I then wait and allow the lidocaine and epinephrine to take effect before introducing the liposuction cannula.

With this method of Louisville Liposuction, blood loss drops to about 1% of the volume of fat removed. So we can suction out 2000 cc’s of fat and only lose 20 cc’s of blood. The typical person has 5600 cc’s of blood in their body so a 20 cc loss in inconsequential. You lose more than this when you have blood drawn for your yearly physical!

I find this technique very safe and it yields very nice results, at least in my hands.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

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