Feasibility and clinical utility of digital anthropometry for precise assessment of outcomes after post-bariatric reconstructive plastic surgery

Background – To investigate the feasibility and clinical validity of a digital anthropometric approach for body size and shape assessment in post-bariatric patients scheduled for plastic surgery. Methods – A convenience sample of 42 patients was recruited. Clinical evaluation, administration of outcome questionnaires, and digital anthropometric assessment were performed before and 3 months after abdominoplasty (in 26 patients) and thighplasty (in 16 patients). Results – Significant pre-post-intervention decreases in waist and hip circumferences were observed in the abdominoplasty subgroup: the median decrease was 3.3 cm (P < 0.0001) for the waist circumference and 2.6 cm (P = 0.002) for the hip circumference. Significant pre-post-intervention decreases in thigh circumferences and leg volumes were observed in the thighplasty subgroup: the median decreases of the left and right thigh circumferences were 1.7 cm (P = 0.001) and 1.5 cm (p = 0.003) and the median decreases of the left and right leg volumes were both 0.4 l (P values: 0.007 and 0.02). Significant pre-post-intervention improvements were also observed for both BODY-Q abdomen satisfaction scale scores and BODY-Q inner thighs satisfaction scale scores. Conclusion – Surgical outcomes in patients undergoing abdominoplasty and thighplasty can be documented through clinimetric and digital anthropometric assessments. The availability of pre- and post-intervention avatars can be useful for both surgeons (for surgical planning and documentation of the surgical outcomes) and patients (for visualization of the surgical outcomes).