Dr. Patronella’s Innovative No-Drain Tummy Tuck Technique Study Results: Why It’s Better

Posted November 19, 2019 in True Form Body Contouring®, True Form Tummy Tuck®, Tummy Tuck, Uncategorized

By Dr. Chris Patronella

One of the fears patients have with tummy tuck surgery is the need for drains. And I can understand their fear. Drains are uncomfortable.Sometimes they’re in for a week to three weeks. But there is a better way. And that is to use progressive tension sutures to collapse that space where fluid could ordinarily collect—close off that space with internal sutures. In my practice, I rarely use drains. And, certainly they are not required for a tummy tuck procedure when progressive tension sutures are used.

Yes, it takes a little longer to do the procedure—probably an extra 15 to 20 minutes—but that’s a really small price to pay to improve the ability of a patient to recover and to improve their ability to recovery following tummy tuck surgery. In my own practice, I’ve looked at 450 cases where progressive tension sutures were employed. This included tummy tucks, body lifts and thigh lifts, and a variety of other procedures whereby skin is removed, And there were no fluid collections at all in this group of patients. And that was without using drains.