1546 – Abdominoplasty with repair of rectus diastasis (aka rectus divarication) following pregnancy

Amendment to existing MBS item(s).

The medical service proposed is the surgical repair of a symptomatic rectus diastasis which is over the threshold distance of 3cm and where the patients have a recognised and documented pattern of symptoms - low back pain, daily abdominal discomfort on functional use and/or urinary incontinence. The repair would involve suturing the musculoaponeurotic layer of the abdominal wall and including associated excision of redundant skin and fat and transposition of the umbilicus (radical abdominoplasty). It would not be performed within 12 months of pregnancy.

Type: Therapeutic

The medical condition concerned is the combination of low back pain, truncal instability and abdominal discomfort +/- urinary incontinence associated with significant rectus abdominis diastasis. This constellation of symptoms is not currently named as a syndrome but meets the criterion of a syndrome (Oxford English Dictionary definition of a syndrome “a collection of symptoms that consistently occur together, or a condition characterised by a consistent set of symptoms”) and could be named “Rectus diastasis syndrome”.

• PASC meeting: 6 to 7 December 2018
• ESC meeting: 10 to 11 October 2019
• MSAC meeting: 28 to 29 November 2019