The Tummy Tuck of Today means Less Pain and a Quicker Recovery

 Have less pain and a quicker recovery with one simple tool says a Louisville plastic surgeon…

Patients who do their research often read about the pain involved in an abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck. Tightening the muscles in the abdomen is a serious procedure that can involve high levels of pain, but nothing modern science can’t handle. Dr. M. Bradley Calobrace of Louisville, Kentucky discusses the use of the OnQ pain pump, a tool utilized by surgeons to reduce pain and help patients rebound quickly after major surgery.

 

By Brad Calobrace, MD
and Adam McMillon
ThePlasticSurgeryChannel.com

 

The Tummy Tuck

“A tummy tuck is my favorite procedure – and I believe the patient’s favorite, too – due to the dramatic changes that can be done to the body,” says Dr. Calobrace.The heart of the procedure is the reconstruction of the abdominal muscle that is stretched and torn whenever a woman goes through pregnancy or when someone has lost a considerable amount of weight. Excess skin and fat is surgically removed in order to tighten the muscle of the abdominal wall. The stretching of skin throughout the procedure causes a large amount of pain and a lingering soreness in the muscle that used to require a few days stay in a hospital. “Eight years ago, my practice considered this inpatient surgery as we needed to allow a patient to recover over the course of a few days with steady doses of narcotics to keep them comfortable,” notes Calobrace. “However, since the introduction of the OnQ pain pump, the surgery is now outpatient with the patient immediately reentering their daily routine with very little pain.”

 

How the OnQ pain pump has changed tummy tuck recoveries

“The pain pump is an autonomous device that injects anesthetic medication at regular intervals deep into the disturbed tissues,” says Calobrace. “Instead of having to utilize narcotics to keep the pain at bay, the pain pump keeps the affected areas numb so the patient can recover much quicker.” This method has a variety of benefits for a recovering patient, such as:

 

• Treatment of pain with numbing medication instead of narcotics, allows the patient to maintain alertness and energy
• With the affected areas numb, the patient can immediately begin to walk and move about, which  decreases the chance of blood clots

“The benefits of the pain pump are felt by both myself and my patient,” says Calobrace. “The pump makes the patient’s recovery a more comfortable process and assures me that the most common complications will be kept at bay by the patient immediately being active.”

The OnQ pain pump makes recovery faster and more comfortable!

The pain pump medication lasts for 3-4 days, by which time the patient has passed through the worst period of pain. Due to the ability to start being active immediately after surgery, recovery time is drastically cut and allows patient to reenter their normal life quickly. Calobrace concludes, “We have really reversed the experience of a tummy tuck with the simple use of a pain pump.”

M. Bradley Calobrace, M.D., FACS is a board-certified, Los Angeles-trained Kentucky plastic surgeon who established Calobrace Plastic Surgery Center in an effort to bring the latest technology and techniques in plastic surgery to the Louisville area.