Am I A Good Candidate For The Pelvic Plasty Procedure?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am an MTF transgender woman seeking gender-affirming surgery.

I am interested in the iliac crest implant procedure (Pelvic Plasty) for hip widening that you have developed. Based on my research, I understand this is a highly specialized and relatively new procedure that you have pioneered, with only a handful of cases performed.

I am requesting a consultation to discuss am I a good candidate for this procedure? I am seeking maximum hip width for feminine hourglass silhouette. I understand this procedure provides upper hip width only (does not address lower hip fullness)

-A:Thank you for your inquiry and detailing your aesthetic objectives to which I can say the following:

1) Pelvic Plasty is not a new or experimental surgery. It was developed in South Korea and they have performed it for years. I have merely brought that type of hip surgery to the United States at their request and my own interest.

2) Whether you are a good candidate for the procedure would require a picture analysis of your hips from the front and back view.

3) Pelvic Plasty can be performed by the placement of titanium iliac crest implants alone or in combination with an attached silicone hip implant. By far the latter is the most common approach based on the potential accentuation or creation of a hip dip deformity (subiliac hollow) below the iliac crest once it is widened. Whether that would be a concern for you is determined preoperatively buy taking your pictures and doing imaging to determine how it may look based on the plates alone or in combination with hip implants. Based on your description of hip augmentation objectives, Seeking maximum hip width for feminine hourglass silhouette, it would seem that the combination of crest plates and hip implants may be aestheically  needed until proven otherwise (picture imaging).

4) The details of the surgery and results are well illustrated on one of my websites, www.exploreplasticsurgery.com, by searching under Pelvic Plasty.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon