SynthesisAnnals of plastic surgery2025
Abdominal Fascial Plication and the Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Abdominoplasty Patients: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Synthesis in Annals of plastic surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Direct Relationship Between Heparin Binding to Midkine and Pleiotrophin and the Development of Acute Deep Vein Thrombosis.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Drainless Lipoabdominoplasty Using Progressive Tension Sutures, Scarpa's Fascia Preservation, and Minimal Cautery in 350 Consecutive Cases.Aesthetic surgery journal. Open forum · 2026Article
- Utility of the Caprini risk assessment model in guiding venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after abdominoplasty.JPRAS open · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRepair of the abdominal fascia at the time of abdominoplasty is a valuable method to improve the contour of the abdomen. However, this maneuver has been linked to an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). This review was undertaken to evaluate the evidence.
methodsAn electronic literature review was conducted to identify publications on the subject of abdominal fascial repair during abdominoplasty and VTE risk. Key words included abdominoplasty, fascial plication, intra-abdominal pressure, and venous thrombosis.
resultsThree large clinical studies were identified. One retrospective study using matched comparisons reported nearly identical VTE rates for patients treated with and without abdominal fascial plication (1.5% vs 1.7%). Another retrospective study reported significantly more VTEs (2.3%) in abdominoplasty patients undergoing fascial repair compared with panniculectomy patients who did not undergo fascial plication (0.36%). The author also recommended a modified Caprini score, adding fascial repair as a risk factor. Only 1 prospective study reported a large number of consecutive plastic surgery outpatients evaluated with Doppler ultrasound. This group included 188 abdominoplasty patients, all treated with fascial plication and without muscle paralysis. Only 1 VTE was diagnosed on the day after abdominoplasty (0.5%). DISCUSSION: Retrospective studies are susceptible to confounders and confirmation bias. Caprini scores do not have a scientific foundation. Chemoprophylaxis increases the risk of bleeding without reducing the risk of VTE.
conclusionsThe best available evidence supports performing a fascial repair. An effective and safe alternative to Caprini scores and chemoprophylaxis is avoidance of muscle paralysis and early detection of VTEs using ultrasound screening.
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