Kinematic Analysis of Patients before and after Abdominoplasty

Background: Abdominoplasty has consistently been one of the top cosmetic procedures performed each year with a high patient satisfaction rate. Excision of the excess abdominal skin has been shown to reduce low back pain and improve posture. The effects of the excess skin removal would, theoretically, be demonstrated through changes in gait. This study aimed to measure kinematic differences during gait to obtain objective measures for abdominoplasty. Methods: Subjects were recruited from a large, academic plastic surgery clinic. Patients were included if they were 18 years of age, able to walk without an assistive device or any hindrance by any existing medical condition, and were scheduled for abdominoplasty. Kinematic measurements were taken before and after surgery using a plug-in-gait marker set, cameras, and a treadmill. Pre- and postoperative measurements were compared and a post-hoc power analysis was created. Results: Nine total patients were included in the study. Joint angles before and after surgery demonstrated moderate differences. However, analysis revealed few significant differences for spatiotemporal or kinematic variables. The power analysis demonstrated an inadequate number of patients to detect significance. Conclusions: Despite the literature describing subjective and objective improvements following abdominoplasty, we were unable to validate this. Overall, there were noticeable differences in joint angles pre- and postoperatively, though the study is too underpowered to reach statistical significance. This preliminary data shows that if the study was powered through a larger cohort, then more generalizable conclusions could be drawn.