Background:
Body contouring operations after massive weight loss have a significant impact on the quality of life of patients. There is very limited funding and accessibility to these operations in the public sector, and currently patients are only accepted after a panel review process. We present a series over a 10-year period in constrained public hospital environment.
Methods:
We reviewed the experience of a single tertiary centre public hospital in New Zealand (Waitaha Canterbury), looking at all patients who met criteria to be reviewed by the selection panel for body contouring operations performed from 2016 to February 2025. We reviewed wait times and procedures, presenting data on procedures and outcomes.
Results:
There were 53 patients who met criteria for panel review. 36 cases then went on to have an operation. 26 of these cases were post bariatric surgery. The average wait time from referral to FSA was 285 days (range 8 days to 880) The average time from FSA to surgery was 514 days, The average maximum BMI was 52.7 and the average BMI at time of operating was 33.5. Patients had an average length of stay of 4.8 days and a total complication rate of 27.8%. Overall patients were very satisfied with their results with an average post op Body Q score of 89.5%.
Conclusion:
We conclude body contouring is a very valuable operation to be offered in the public sector, and one that can be performed safely with excellent patient satisfaction.