The Impact of Abdominal Body Contouring Surgery on Physical Function After a Massive Weight Loss (BCSP)

Obesity is a growing chronic medical condition in which as of 2015, a total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults were considered obese and since 1980 the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than 70 countries. It is estimated that 70 percent of individuals who undergo a massive weight loss would develop excess skin and based on patient reported outcome measures, it has been shown that excess skin negatively impacts patients' body image, self-esteem, physical function and body contouring surgeries have been demonstrated to improve these measures. These are surgeries that correct for excess skin and its adverse consequences. The form of the surgery is case dependent and can range from removing an apron of skin to complete contouring of the abdomen with tightening of the abdominal muscle and moving the belly button. Despite previous studies indicating mobility limitation because of excess skin and improvements after abdominal body contouring surgeries with the use of subjective measures of physical function, there are no studies that directly measures physical fitness post body contouring surgeries. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to evaluate the impact of abdominal body contouring surgeries on direct objective measures of physical function. It is hypothesized that 1) the removal of excess skin will improve direct objective measures of physical function in post massive weight loss participants 2) the removal of excess skin will improve direct measures of gait and balance in post massive weight loss participants 3) the removal of excess skin will improve patient reported outcome measures using quality of life questionnaires in post massive weight loss participants 4) the removal of excess skin will improve aerobic capacity in post massive weight loss participants 5) the removal of excess skin does not change the body composition in post massive weight loss participants.