Keyhole vertical mini-abdominoplasty for correction of lower abdominal striae

Abstract

The abdomen is the one of the most common areas treated in plastic surgery procedures. In recent years, abdominoplasty has been increasingly used to manage abdominal hypertrophy, laxity, and striae [1,2]. After pregnancy or weight changes, patients often desire improvement of abdominal striae and laxity, including the repair of additional ventral hernias. It is reasonable for postpartum middle-aged women to request some extent of lower abdominal tightening without major surgery, along with the removal of multiple striae on the mid lower abdomen and periumbilical area. Many modalities have been used to correct unsightly striae of the lower abdomen, including laser treatments, intense pulsed light, micro-dermabrasion, and some homemade cream regimens. However, the results of those methods are generally unpredictable [3]. For patients who would like to achieve favorable cosmetic outcomes of unsightly visible multiple postpartum striae on the lower mid-abdomen, and to improve their protruding belly contour by tightening of the lower abdomen, we designed the keyhole-shaped vertical mini-abdominoplasty, and herein we report our initial clinical experience. This novel abdominoplasty technique was performed in a patient with multiple postpartum striae on the lower mid-abdomen and periumbilical area. The keyhole-shaped vertical mini-abdominoplasty was designed as follows. First, the striated skin expected Dong Chul Kim, Chi Ho Shin, Sung Hoon Yu, Ji Hoon Kim, Chong Kun Lee, Chang En Chung, Byung Duk Min