Abdominoplasty Combined With Hernia Repair; Raleigh, NC*

Many patients who have known abdominal wall hernias that need to be treated-and suffer from abdominal pannus,wonder if the abdominal hernia can be repaired during the same surgery. Certainly for small hernias this is fairly common. Umbilical hernias can frequently be repaired during an abdominoplasty as well as some other types of ventral hernias. Depending on the plastic surgeon's expertise, some of these hernia repairs can be performed by the plastic surgeon. Many plastic surgeons, including Dr. Lyle, have achieved board certification in the past in general surgery and had their foundation in training in general surgery so they are familiar with hernia repair. Complex hernia repairs involving a major intra-abdominal component are usually performed by general surgeons specializing in the treatment of hernias. Sometimes these procedures are coordinated and the hernia is performed by the general surgeon while the plastic surgeon performs the abdominoplasty. This patient is a 45-year-old woman who had a left lower quadrant hernia from previous C-section. She had abdominoplasty performed and the repair performed by Dr. Lyle. Fortunately this hernia was not terribly complex and involved a defect in her abdominal fascia but did not extend intra-abdominal so the muscle was bulging and symptomatic and the fascia was repaired during the abdominoplasty by Dr. Lyle.