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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2014; 41(03): 271-276
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2014.41.3.271
Original Article

Upper Arm Contouring with Brachioplasty after Massive Weight Loss

Hyun Ho Han
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
,
Min Cheol Lee
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
,
Sang Hwa Kim
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
,
Jung Ho Lee
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
,
Sang Tae Ahn
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
,
Jong Won Rhie
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
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Background As the obese population increases in Korea, the number of patients who are trying to lose weight has been increasing steadily. In these patients, skin laxity and deformation of the body contour occurs, which could possibly be corrected by various body contouring surgeries. Here, we introduce the brachioplasty method and our experience of various body contouring surgeries performed in our center.

Methods From November 2009 to August 2011, five cases of brachioplasty were performed. When the patient presented with sagging of the lateral inframammary crease and bat wing deformity in the axilla, extended brachioplasty was performed; in this case, the deformation of the axilla and lateral chest was corrected at the same time. A traditional brachioplasty was performed when contouring was needed only for skin laxity in the upper arm.

Results Complications, such as hematomas or nerve injuries, were not evident. Some patients experienced partial wound dehiscence due to tension or hypertrophic scars found during the follow-up. In general, all of the patients were satisfied with the improvement in their upper arm contour.

Conclusions Given the demands for body contouring surgery, the number of brachioplasty surgical procedures is expected to increase significantly, with abdominoplasty comprising a large portion of these surgeries. For the brachioplasty procedure, preparation and preoperative consultation regarding design of the surgery by experienced surgeons was important to prevent complications such as nerve damage or hematoma formation.

Keywords

Surgery, plastic - Upper extremity - Weight loss

This work was supported by a Seoul R&BD Program funded by the Seoul government of Korea (N0.SS110011C0211601) and a grant from Catholic Institute of Cell Therapy in 2013.




Publication History

Received: 02 July 2013

Accepted: 13 August 2013

Article published online:
02 May 2022

© 2014. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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