title: Body contouring in the male weight loss population:  assessing gender as a factor in outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Growing numbers of men are presenting for consultation and potential postbariatric body contouring surgery. Due to concerns about whether men might have increased rates of complications or dissatisfaction with aesthetic surgery, the authors assessed their clinical experience with male patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors examined male patients in their prospective database who had undergone body-contouring surgery. Chi-square analysis, regression analysis, and a binary logistic regression model were used to study categorical variables, surgical outcomes, continuous variables, and significant factors. Odds ratios were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 481 patients, 48 (10 percent) were male. There were no significant differences in baseline comorbidities between the genders, except that women had a higher incidence of anxiety/depression. Men had a greater weight loss before body-contouring surgery, but this did not correlate with greater operative time or estimated blood loss. Male gender, however, was associated with a 14.6 percent incidence of postoperative hematoma and a 25 percent incidence of seroma, in contrast to female gender, with 3.5 and 13 percent, respectively. Logistic regression showed that male gender was associated with an increased incidence of hematoma, seroma, and postoperative complications. It was an independent risk factor for hematoma and seroma formation, with odds ratios of 3.76 and 2.65, respectively. Gender was not an independent predictor of wound dehiscence, flap loss, transfusion, or surgical-site infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Men who are considering body-contouring surgery should be advised that they are at an increased risk of postoperative hematoma and seroma formation. The causal relationship between gender and postoperative complications is an area for further study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Risk, II.
authors.affiliation: Dallas, Texas; Baltimore and Chevy Chase, Md.; and Pittsburgh, Pa. From the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; and private practice.
authors.forename: Tae
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Devin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coon
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toy
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Purnell
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Michaels
authors.forename: J Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rubin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss