Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)

If you are considering Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) in Croatia, here you’ll find useful instructions regarding your procedure.

Our surgeon and his surgical team have been successfully performing abdominoplasty for more than 15 years, and from the ample experience, claims tummy tuck is a very successful method for body sculpting. Thanks to all these facts, in our clinic we have a large number of satisfied patients after abdominoplasty.

Preparation for the surgery

Although tummy tuck is a routine operation for our surgical team headed by our surgeon, our professionalism makes us pay special attention to the preoperative preparation of our patient. It is highly important for us to have the patient’s blood test results and blood coagulation values prior to tummy tuck.

Prior to the operation – patient’s preparation:

Prior to the abdominoplasty, the patient goes through a routine preoperative analysis, which comprises the internal specialist examination with ECG and a blood test analysis, consultation and thorough examination in our clinic.

To minimize the risk of potential complications, we don’t recommend tummy tuck to older patients, diabetics, patients with higher blood pressure or those with heart conditions. It is optimal when the patients are younger or middle aged, in generally good health.

For smokers, it is imperative they make sure they stop smoking at least two weeks before the tummy tuck and two weeks after. We insist our patients follow the instruction, as it has major influence on the result of the tummy tuck surgery.

Before the operation, in our correspondence and detailed conversation, we instruct our patients to discontinue using painkillers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, containing acetylsalicylic acid like Aspirin, Andol or Acisal, in case they usually take these. This is very important factor in patient’s preparation for the tummy tuck surgery, as this way we prevent possible bleeding and hematoma during and after the procedure. Following this instruction makes the recovery quicker and more successful, and the result of the operation is improved.

Anaesthesia and the procedure:

Tummy tuck is performed under general anaesthesia given by a top anaesthesiologist, medical doctor. The patient is asleep during the operation and the whole procedure is painless.

The patient stays in the clinic between 1 – 3 days, depending on the extent and type of the abdominoplasty. Once discharged from the surgery the patient is sent to home care.

Postoperative period and recovery:

The final result of the abdominoplasty depends on the course of the operation, the experience of the surgeon and his team, precise and enhanced techniques, but to a significant extent, it also depends on conscientious and detailed postoperative monitoring and control.

To be sure of the success of the operation and wellbeing of the patient, our surgeon and his team insist on regular check ups and everyday contact with the patient. For our patients’ safety, successful recovery and postoperative monitoring, we recommend optimal length of stay in Zagreb. This way, we leave nothing to chance. We monitor our patient’s recovery completely, which is crucial for our patient’s health and the result of the operation.

Postoperative recovery after tummy tuck is individual, usually lasting around 14 days after the operation. The stitches are removed 14 days after the surgery, and our patients can resume their personal and professional activities, having in mind, though, to avoid harder physical activities for 30 days after the operation.

In order to have the least noticeable scar possible, it would be best to avoid exposure to sun in the period of six months up to a year after the operation.

Immediately after the surgery, the patient puts on special compressive clothes (various corsets/ braces) on the abdomen area. The elastic garment has big impact on the result of the tummy tuck, because it makes the skin stick to the tissue as close as possible, and the effect of the operation is thus enhanced. The elastic garments are worn for 6 to 8 weeks after the surgery. We provide the patients with specific garment, according to the type and size, prior to the surgery.

Required stay in Zagreb

Required stay in Zagreb is at least 14 days, so we can remove the stitches and monitor the early postoperative period completely. We indeed require that our patients stay in Zagreb for the required number of days after abdominoplasty, as this is the period that is of crucial importance for health of our patient and for the result of the operation. Having followed all the instructions, our patient can safely go home, without risking the possible postoperative complications.

Sick leave lasts at least 2 to 3 weeks for abdominoplasty. 14 days following the tummy tuck we remove the stitches from the incision, which is also an opportunity for the last check up. Two weeks after home care, the patients can resume their personal and professional activities. However, the patient should avoid hard physical activities and lifting heavy objects for a month after the operation.