Acute abdomen after abdominoplasty: differential diagnosis.

UNLABELLED: Abdominoplasty is a very common elective procedure in plastic surgery. Surgical accidents can lead to serious complications that result in an acute surgical abdomen, but in rare cases, an acute surgical abdomen not related to the procedure develops. This report discusses the diagnostic approach for patients with an acute abdomen after abdominoplasty and presents a case of appendicitis in the immediate postoperative period. The importance of postoperative follow-up evaluation by the same surgeon who performed the procedure is discussed as well as the need for adequate general surgery training to obtain the correct diagnosis and perform the urgent operation required to avoid a detrimental outcome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .