Dr. Cory Goldberg explains how anemia and obesity affect tummy tuck surgery outcomes. High blood loss during the procedure makes anemia risky, and excess weight can complicate healing and increase infection risk.
Having anemia, which is a low blood count, can hinder any kind of an operation. If your blood count is too low, your surgeon may choose not to do surgery and require you to take iron supplementation or other treatments in order to get the blood count back up again. Performing surgery while your blood count is low or you have anemia is not a safe thing to do, particularly with regards to a larger operation such as a tummy tuck. Being obese also is a significant risk factor for any kind of surgery and particularly for body contouring such as tummy tuck. Being obese or having a body mass index over 35 implies a much higher risk of wound complications, infections, and significant life threatening complications that can occur after any kind of surgery. It would be best for you to reduce your body weight before having surgery to both improve the cosmetic result and also decrease the risks.
