Flaps & Grafts: The Importance of Oxygen

Advanced gender affirmation surgeries frequently involve flaps and grafts, which are prone to challenges in healing. When tissue is mobilized and moved to another body area, it interrupts 90% of the blood supply, which can easily lead to failure. All such surgeries have some degree of failure in healing, with a significant percentage of these failures being catastrophic.

Producing Desired Physical Changes Without Revision Surgery: HBOT

Prior to the use of HBOT in the post-operative treatment of gender affirmation surgery, many patients require 2 - 3 additional revision surgeries to finally reach an acceptable outcome. This was especially seen in “bottom” surgeries. These revisions came with astronomical financial and personal costs. The secret behind a successful, more natural appearing and functional result lies in flooding your system with oxygen and removing edema following the procedure. Fortunately, HBOT gets you there.

Why Do Flaps and Graft Surgeries Fail?

Moving skin or tissue with flap or grafting procedures is commonly used in advanced gender affirmation surgeries. Unfortunately, these procedures have a high failure rate due to the risk of infection or reduced blood flow, which can lead to tissue death (necrosis). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has proven results in optimizing compromised tissue and avoiding the need for revision grafting, repeated flap surgeries, or treatments to address serious bacterial infections.

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The Laws of Physics – The “Magic” of HBOT for Flap and Graft Success

Without oxygen, the body cannot survive. Flooding your system with oxygen through hyperbaric oxygen therapy brings higher levels of success for the delicate and intricate flaps and grafts associated with gender affirmation surgeries.

Red blood cells are the natural transport system that delivers oxygen to your body.

Taking advantage of several laws of physics, HBOT enables us to use the body’s blood plasma to provide an alternate route through which the oxygen is delivered to your body and to the surgically altered areas – with truly remarkable outcomes.

The questions to ask yourself are, “how many surgeries do I want?” and “how quickly and how well do I want to heal?”

Flaps and Grafts in FTM Bottom Surgery

At 8th Element Hyperbaric Medicine, we are thrilled for our patients who experience far superior results in healing, less visible scars, smoother, more natural results, and a reduced risk of complications. The flaps and grafts used in these gender affirmation surgeries to create a realistic result may come from the forearm, thigh, or side of your body. The skin, fat, muscle, nerves, arteries, and veins are all transferred during the surgery.

These complex surgeries are typically staged, requiring several surgeries to achieve the final goal. Unfortunately, these procedures are also some of the most prone to infections or other complications. Undergoing HBOT after each phase will speed recovery and help you avoid the common complications and revision surgery.

MTF Bottom Surgery: Skin Graft Healing with HBOT

In MTF bottom surgeries, intricate flaps and grafts are extensively utilized to achieve the desired cosmetic and functional results. Without HBOT, It is common to need additional revision surgeries to improve the cosmetic appearance and/or functional result. When you add HBOT to each step of the process, you benefit from quicker healing and improved tissue appearance and functionality, reducing your risk of infection and improving the end result.