[Lower body contouring procedures]

Indications for most forms of abdominoplasty are slight weight fluctuations or pregnancy. The steadily increasing number of patients with greater weight loss as well as the growing number of bariatric operations subsequently leads to a significant increase in body contouring procedures and places new challenges on plastic surgeons. After major weight loss patients present with extremely variable deformities in the lower and upper trunk as well as the extremities, which have to be treated individually with an appropriate procedure. The restoration of the lower trunk presents the first stage of the entire reconstruction process. The various modifications of abdominoplasty procedures with their various incision patterns and scar courses and the circumferential lower trunk dermatolipectomy represent advanced operations for every individual case. Plastic surgeons should be fully aware of differences and indications of every available procedure in the area of the lower trunk and should have the ability to offer the entire repertory for each individual deformity. A high postoperative patient satisfaction results from a customized procedure selection, the optimal implementation with a correspondingly low rate of complications and above-average patient care.