Background: Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity, leading to significant weight loss and improvements in metabolic health. However, massive weight loss often results in excess skin, which can negatively impact body image, psychological well-being, and quality of life. Abdominoplasty is commonly performed after bariatric surgery to address these concerns. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of post-bariatric abdominoplasty on psychological well-being, body image, social relationships, and sexual functioning in formerly obese patients. Methods: A single-center, cross-sectional recall study was conducted on 35 patients, out of 135 invited, who underwent sleeve gastrectomy followed by abdominoplasty 12–24 months after the initial surgery. Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing psychological well-being, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, body perception, social relationships, and sexual functioning. Pairwise comparisons were performed to assess changes across the preoperative, post-bariatric, and post-abdominoplasty stages. Results: Psychological well-being significantly improved post-bariatric surgery, with further reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms after abdominoplasty. However, body shape perception and self-esteem improved after bariatric surgery but did not show additional enhancement following abdominoplasty. Social support remained largely unchanged, except for modest improvements in attachment and reliable alliance. Sexual functioning improved significantly after bariatric surgery but showed no further significant gains after abdominoplasty. Conclusions: While abdominoplasty is associated with additional psychological benefits, particularly in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms, it does not significantly enhance body perception, self-esteem, or sexual functioning beyond the effects of bariatric surgery. These findings highlight the importance of setting realistic patient expectations regarding the benefits of body contouring surgery in post-bariatric care.

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections are frequent in intensive care units (ICUs), but the independent effect of multidrug resistance relative to infection with susceptible organisms remains uncertain. We compared clinical characteristics, microbiology, treatment intensity, and in-hospital mortality among patients with no documented bacterial infection, antimicrobial-susceptible infection, or multidrug-resistant (MDR) infection. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study of the first eligible ICU hospitalization for each patient at the University Clinical Hospital in Bialystok, Poland, from 1 January 2017 to 1 June 2023. Infection groups were assigned using clinical documentation, microbiological results, and local laboratory resistance-phenotype coding; patients with multiple isolates were classified according to the most resistant clinically relevant isolate. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated associations with in-hospital mortality. Results: Among 3326 patients, 1413 (42.5%) had a documented bacterial infection: 481 (34.0% of infected patients) had susceptible infection and 932 (66.0%) had MDR infection. Crude mortality was 45.5%, 46.8%, and 48.4% in the no-infection, susceptible-infection, and MDR-infection groups, respectively (p = 0.354), whereas mean ICU length of stay was 10.0, 15.5, and 25.2 days (p < 0.001). In the complete-case whole-cohort model (n = 678), MDR infection (adjusted OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.84–3.96) and susceptible infection (adjusted OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.26–3.69) were associated with in-hospital death versus no infection. Within the infected cohort (n = 352), MDR status was not independently associated with mortality versus susceptible infection (adjusted OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.61–1.93). Conclusions: MDR infection identified patients with prolonged ICU exposure and greater organ-support requirements but did not independently increase mortality relative to susceptible infection. Interpretation is limited by the retrospective single-center design, complete-case analysis, and absence of time-resolved MDR acquisition data.