After losing 80 pounds liposuction is not going to give a nice flat tummy that A Tummy tuck would. Without pictures or an exam it’s hard to be more specific, but from your describing its sounds like Tummy tuck would be the best for you. (Stuart B. Kincaid, MD, FACS (in memoriam), Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is really for fine tuning, plus for liposuction you really should be close to your ideal weight.Post major weight loss to really correct the abdominal area a tummy tuck is what is needed. (Michael A. Fiorillo, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)
Whether you are getting liposuction or a tummy tuck after weight loss depends on the amount of fat lipodystrophy that you still have after your weight loss. That means it depends how thick your fat distribution is as well as how much skin laxity there is.
If you have quite a moderate amount of skin laxity as well as moderate amount of fullness of fat distribution, then to achieve best optimal outcome you may need to do liposuction in order to help with the debulking of the fat first then followed by tummy tuck, which will then give you best optimal results in terms of body contouring. If you do have moderate to severe amount of skin laxity, then liposuction would not be the best approach and therefore tummy tuck will more likely than not achieve body contouring after your weight loss. (Kim-Chi Vu, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)
The skin will have a hard time retracting to its normal position after such a drastic change in your overall size.
Sometimes, liposuction can be used to contour the hips and waist as the finishing touches. (Michael Burgdorf, MD, MPH, Nashville Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction Vs. Tummy Tuck After Weight Loss
After massive weight loss, chances are that the anatomic cause of the present issue is excess skin and laxity of the abdominal wall. Liposuction works to remove excess fat if that is the sole problem. A tummy tuck is the right choice if tightening of the abdominal wall is an issue or if there is excess skin. Both of these are usually present in massive weight loss patients.
Tummy tuck or liposuction after lose of weight
Best bet is an in person consult with a plastic surgeon. Listings are available on RealSelf, and a check on plasticsurgery dot org, the website of the ASPS, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, will verify that the surgeon is board certified and is in good standing with the major plastic surgery organization in the U.S. (Jourdan Gottlieb, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)