How to handle a seroma

[brunosgirl]

I had bilateral subcutaneous mastectomies in the early 70's the original(!!) implant ruptured and I had it removed. My breast tissue had grown onto the implant and tore a hole as the surgeon was attempting to get it out..the tear was sewn.I developed a seroma and it ruptured from a small not healed area on the tear stitchs....that was milked and the area resewn...it is healing fine but I am again getting another seroma...what to do?? has anyone dealt with this and what helped? I do not want to loose the expander which was only inflated with 60 cc so as not to stress the torn and repaired area....hot packs cold packs leave it alone.....I am also an 8 year stage 3 ovarian cancer survivor so I guess I am both tough and blessed  thanks

[brunosgirl]

Thank you so much for your comments...I will see the dr tomorrow...I really do not want to loose this expander, I hate having a hole in my chest, so to speak. It is good to know that they can be gotten rid of..were you able to go about your regular life with the drain..what kind of drain??  ..Im watching my seroma slowly grow, and keeping an eye on the tension it puts on the repaired tissue....the comments from others are great..this is a wonderful forum..wish I knew about it when I was sick..but I know now..take care

[nurse12hr]

I had the same problem years ago with a persistent large seroma after my tissue expander was removed and the implant was placed.

The plastic surgeon had me tightly compress the area with an ACE bandage for a while.  That didn't really work, so after a LOT of agonizing, (no one wants to rupture that implant) he needled it.  That worked for about 1 day.  Then the seroma came back, just as big as ever.  VERY reluctantly (due to concern about infection) he placed a drain for I think about a week (or until the fluid stopped draining pretty much) and put me on strong antibiotics while the drain was in.  

That finally did it.  Never had another problem.  He really, really didn't want to put the drain in, though, because of the danger of infection.  He said he had never had to do that before.  (Poor guy, he went on vacation right after but called me every single day to make sure I was ok).

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear brunosgirl, Seromas can be left alone if they are not causing discomfort, or it may need to be drained.  If the concern is that it may cause pressure on the stitches again, the decision may be to drain again.  Follow up with your surgeon regarding the best management in your particular situation.

[surgeon]

there's nothing you can do to affect the degree or resolution of a seroma. The choices are up to your surgeon: leave it alone and see if it resolves on its own as they often do, or intermittantly drain it with a needle, or insert a drain to stay in place for a while. The behavior of the fluid has little or nothing to do with anything you can personally do.