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Women gain weight and fat mass despite lipectomy at abdominoplasty and breast reduction

School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT UK¹ Academic Unit of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield, Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2JF, UK² MARS Confectionery, Sheffield, UK and ³ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, S57 7AU UK

(Correspondence should be addressed to R J M Ross; Email: r.j.ross{at}sheffield.ac.uk)

Objectives: In animal models, fat removal results in compensatory weight gain. No study has reported measurement of weight following lipectomy in humans. We have examined changes in weight in patients who underwent lipectomy.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis, 16 patients who had abdominoplasty and 17 patients who underwent bilateral breast reduction were compared with 16 patients who had carpal tunnel syndrome release. Following this, a prospective study was carried out on 7 subjects awaiting abdominoplasty and 12 subjects awaiting bilateral breast reduction surgery.

Results: In the retrospective study, all three patient groups gained weight following surgery. The abdominoplasty group was heavier before surgery and showed greatest weight gain but there was no statistically significant difference in weight gain between the groups. In the prospective study, the abdominoplasty group had a mean fat removal of 1.77 kg and breast reduction group had a mean of 3.22 kg. Eighteen months following surgery the abdominoplasty group showed a significant mean increase in body weight (mean increase: 4.82 kg) and body mass index (BMI) (mean increase: 1.66 kg/m²). In the bilateral breast reduction group, there was a non-significant mean gain in weight (mean increase: 0.67 kg) and BMI (mean increase: 0.21 kg/m²).

Conclusions: Patients undergoing lipectomy during abdominoplasty and bilateral breast reduction will gain weight in the long term. This weight gain probably reflects the expected gain in weight without surgery as a similar finding is observed in patients who have undergone surgery without lipectomy. These results highlight the limitation of lipectomy as a weight control measure.