It is certainly preferable to do as many procedures as possible at one surgical setting to avoid 2 downtimes, 2 recoveries, 2 exposures to anesthesia and the added expense of 2 surgeries.
Surgeons will stage procedures for several reasons. If there is a large amount of skin there may be a simple time constraint in removing it all. This type of work also requires a team approach in a specialty facility (in my opinion). Not all surgeons may be willing to enlist the extra help needed to move thee cases along, and not all facilities are capable of handling the recovery process for longer procedures.
My typical staging is:
Stage 1: lower body lift, breast lift, liposuction as needed, possible breast implants
Stage 2: arms and legs plus touchups from Stage 1. Add breast implants to lift if not done at Stage 1.
Hope this helps
Dr. LoMonaco
www.DrLoMonaco.com
www.BodyLiftHouston.com