Hematoma after thyroid surgery

I was reading that one of the scary things that can happen after having thyroid surgery is developing a hematoma. Does anyone know anything about this? How would you know if you have one? Are there symptoms? I had my left lobe and part of my isthmus removed on Tuesday.

[mirabella45]

Im not sure about thyroid..but I developed one (large) in my stomach after back surgery..WE just kept an eye on it..It went away eventually

[pep88]

A hematoma is a big bruise.  Granted it's a bit worse, but it's bleeding under the skin.  You'd see it.  Basically it's a painful "pocket" of blood under the skin.  Usually fairly deep under the skin.  If you've ever had one, you'd know one a mile away.  I can't imagine if you had drainage tubes in after TT, you'd experince a hematoma, but I'm sure there are odds of it happening...

[TXMomOfFaith]

So baisically I should look for a big bruise around my incision area(the neck)?

[TXMomOfFaith]

bump

[ontheedge050]

Has the feeling come back or is it still kind of numb? I googled "hematoma after surgery"  
Hematomas are a collection of blood, usually partially clotted, that tends to result from the breakage of a vein or blood vessel. Simple hematomas can be the result of minor trauma. A bruise is an alternate name for hematomas, but generally when doctors refer to hematomas, they are referring to hematomas from major traumatic injury or from surgery.

During surgery, damage to surrounding blood vessels can cause hematomas to form, which tends to slow down healing. In some cases, exceptionally large hematomas may need to be drained so that surgery sites are not impacted by the collection of partially clotted blood.

[JLWH]

Just out of curiosity....what made you look up this info, Txmom?  

Are you suspecting something is wrong?  Not feeling well?  

I think I read in another post that you were having numbness.  Has that resolved itself or still dealing with it?  

Have you had your post-op appointment yet?  If not, perhaps, writing all of this down and asking these questions or for a full examination of the area might make you feel a little more at ease.  

You know, the more that I read on the net about all of this, the more alarming it can all feel as there are so many "possibilities" that can happen and drive us insane in the longrun.  Perhaps, rather than reading up on everything on the net (complete with a lot of scarey things), asking your doc to really examine you, even if it means bumping up your post op appointment would really be of help to put your mind at ease???

Sending you a HUGE HUG for all that you've been through and are going through.  And, wow, it's been almost a week already since your surgery?!  I remember reading your posts the night before your surgery and waiting to hear how you made out afterwards and being thrilled to hear how well it all went because I'm being booked in for surgery as well shortly (meet my surgeon Sept. 30th).  My how the time flies!!!  

Perhaps, Utahmom can answer your question more specifically as she and her family have had so many of these surgeries, so bumping this up!  
  

[Liz94]

I'll share something gross but relevant to the topic. I developed a hematoma at the sight of my episiotomy after I gave birth to my first child.  I was in so much pain after I got home from the hospital and I kept calling my doc and was told it was "normal" and to sit in a sitz bath. After about a week of this pain getting worse I had my husband look down there and I had a hematoma the size of a golf ball and had to be rushed to the hospital.  They had to lance it and pack it. Then I had to go back to the doc every single day for 2 weeks to have the packing removed and repacked till it healed. It was the most horrible experience of my entire life. So......don't get one!

[ontheedge050]

Good Grief.....That sounds like it was worse than childbirth it's self!

[TinaViotti]

I had a r side thyroid lobectomy two months ago. My neck had a small infection draining. The sent a sample to the lab to check for infection which came back negative. I still was slowing oozing. I went to the surgeon twice where he slit my incision open on two different visits to try and stop the draining. Still slowly oozing I went for an ultrasound and then a MRI. The ultrasound showed nothing, the MRI showed wht appeared to be a 1cm seroma, so we decided outpatient surgery to clean out the wound. I had it done this morning....no pain at all. They knock ya out , intubate ya and clean it up. I got a drain today too which comes out in a week. Turns out I had a blood clot hangin from the location of what had been removed. Originally I thought about going  for a second opinion even though I love my doctor, but glad I didn't, lord knows how long it would've taken to get into one.  I am thankful I had the wound cleaned and the blood clot found. Scary to think that has been there two months with no other symptoms but the oozing from a tiny tiny corner of my incision. I am 38 and thankful to be alive, happily married with four children. They discovered cancer in the right side, it was so tiny I didn't have a total thyoid removal. I will have another MRI in a week. I guess I am the unlucky 1%. Good luck to you hope this helped.