The patient is a post partum woman with abdominal laxity primarily below her umbilicus ( belly button ). She had a mini abdominoplasty ( defined as no incision made around the umbilicus ). The upper abdomen is not optimally improved, but there is some benefit to releasing the umbilicus from below and allowing it to “float” downward when the abdominal skin is pulled. This allows some tightening to the upper abdomen. The biggist benefit is that there is no scar around the umbilicus and that allows the abdomen to look unoperated upon when the lower scar is covered by a bikini. Approximately 2/3 of the abdominal wall can still be tightened ( plicated ).
