The American Society of Plastic Surgeons publishes an average cost of $8,174 for a tummy tuck, the operation it calls an abdominoplasty. As always the figure is a surgeon's fee and excludes anesthesia, operating room facilities and other related expenses, but on this operation that exclusion carries more weight than on most. An abdominoplasty is one of the longest procedures on the cosmetic list, and both the anesthetist and the facility bill against time, so the lines outside the average grow with the operation rather than staying fixed.
Ask providers for a written price
The six lines, and why two of them are large here
ASPS names anesthesia fees, hospital or surgical facility costs, medical tests, post-surgery garments, prescriptions for medication and the surgeon's fee. Anesthesia and facility are the two that scale with theatre time, and a full abdominoplasty with muscle repair is a long operation. That is why a quote of the surgeon's fee alone can understate the total by a wide margin on this procedure specifically, and why asking which of the six a figure contains is worth more here than a negotiation over the surgeon's line.
Muscle repair is the part that changes the operation
Many abdominoplasties include repair of separated abdominal muscle, and that repair is what turns a skin operation into a longer one. ASPS names the type of procedure used as one of three drivers of the surgeon's fee, beside experience and geographic office location, and whether the muscle wall is repaired, and over what length, sits inside that. Two quotes can therefore differ by thousands while both being fair, because one includes work the other does not. The examination decides which you need.
Combination cases and what they do to the bill
Abdominoplasty is often combined with liposuction, published separately at $4,711, or done as part of a wider body contouring plan. Combining operations shares one anesthetic and one facility booking between them, so a combined quote is usually less than the sum of the separate published averages. It also lengthens the single operation, which raises the risk profile, and that is a clinical conversation rather than a financial one. ASPS states most health insurance plans do not cover tummy tuck surgery or its complications, and that many surgeons offer patient financing plans.
Other questions people ask
How much does a tummy tuck cost in the US?
ASPS publishes an average surgeon fee of $8,174 for a tummy tuck. It excludes anesthesia, hospital or surgical facility costs, medical tests, post-surgery garments and prescriptions.
Why can the total be so much higher than the average?
Because anesthesia and facility costs are billed against theatre time, and an abdominoplasty is one of the longest operations on the cosmetic list. Those two lines sit outside the published figure.
Does the price include muscle repair?
Not necessarily. Repair of separated abdominal muscle lengthens the operation, and ASPS names the type of procedure used as one of three drivers of the fee. Ask whether a quote includes it.
Is it cheaper to combine it with liposuction?
Usually cheaper than two separate operations, because one anesthetic and one facility booking are shared. Liposuction is published separately at $4,711, so a combined quote should be below the sum of the two averages.