Thickness of Rectus Abdominis Muscle and Abdominal Subcutaneous Fat Tissue in Adult Women: Correlation with Age, Pregnancy, Laparotomy, and Body Mass Index

Background Rectus abdominis muscle and abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue are usefulfor reconstruction of the chest wall, and abdominal, vaginal, and perianal defects. Thus,preoperative evaluation of rectus abdominis muscle and abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue isimportant. This is a retrospective study that measured the thickness of rectus abdominis muscleand abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue using computed tomography (CT) and analyzed thecorrelation with the patients’ age, gestational history, history of laparotomy, and body massindex (BMI).Methods A total of 545 adult women were studied. Rectus abdominis muscle and abdominalsubcutaneous fat thicknesses were measured with abdominopelvic CT. The results were analyzedto determine if the thickness of the rectus abdominis muscle or subcutaneous fat tissue wassignificantly correlated with age, number of pregnancies, history of laparotomy, and BMI.Results Rectus abdominis muscle thicknesses were 9.58 mm (right) and 9.73 mm (left) at thexiphoid level and 10.26 mm (right) and 10.26 mm (left) at the umbilicus level. Subcutaneousfat thicknesses were 24.31 mm (right) and 23.39 mm (left). Rectus abdominismuscle thicknessdecreased with age and pregnancy. History of laparotomy had a significant negative correlationwith rectus abdominis muscle thickness at the xiphoid level. Abdominal subcutaneous fatthickness had no correlation with age, number of pregnancies, or history of laparotomy.Conclusions Age, gestational history, and history of laparotomy influenced rectus abdominismuscle thickness but did not influence abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness. These results areclinically valuable for planning a rectus abdominis muscle flap and safe elevation of muscle flap.