**3. Evolving procedures in body contouring**

Thorek performed the first umbilicus-preserving abdominoplasty in 1924 [4]. This was the first abdominal contouring procedure with esthetic benefits. Passot's contribution was to use undermining as a modification of Kelly's technique [5]. Vernon in the 1950s developed a novel concept by combining extensive undermining with the umbilical transposition and relocation, which is a procedure still in use today.

**Figure 5.** *Symbols of beauty from the Renaissance.*

Callia described aponeurotic suturing as an important component of his procedure in 1967, which involved an infra-inguinal incision. Pitanguy in the same year published a series of 300 abdominal lipectomies with an infra-inguinal incision [6]. Previously, the published literature consisted mostly of case reports of a few patients. In the 1970s, Regnault modified the Pitanguy's incision into the "W" incision [7]. In 1973, Grazer championed the "bikini line" incision used frequently today [8]. Grazer and Goldwyn in 1977 observed that abdominoplasty decreased anterior projection of the abdomen but did little to change waist diameter This led to Psillakis' assertion in 1978 that muscular aponeurotic suturing was an underutilized tool to decrease waistline dimensions [9]. Somalo and Gonzalez-Ulloa extended the transverse abdominal incision circumferentially and introduced the belt lipectomy [10]. This concept would provide the background for many subsequent more aggressive procedures.
