Can I have hand surgery on same side as radical mastectomy

Hello @finger and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I found this article below that may not perfectly align with your question, but does bring up there being some lymph considerations for same-side surgery.

- Hand surgery after axillary lymph node clearance for breast cancer: contra-indication to surgery?: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229347/

Has your doctor been made aware of your mastectomy and is he/she comfortable performing the surgery? Did you all talk about any risks leading up to surgery?

Thanks for the reply. I will call the dr. this morning to find out if she is aware of the mastectomy and if she has any concerns with it. The issue was never discussed at our pre-op meeting.

I had a partial and axillary node and I am also considering a trigger finger surgery, I will anxiously wait to hear what your doctor says. I haven’t been in a hurry due to other big responsibilities right now, but the shots didn’t work. I am very careful about that hand, I kind of wonder about the chicken or the egg. Did lymphedema, contribute to the risk of trigger finger? I hear a lot about trigger fingers in breast cancer, but I am afraid the answers are above my pay grade. Lol.
I am hoping your surgery goes well, will you come back and let me know how this goes for you?

My doctor said there would be no problem doing the surgery. I had it yesterday. Was prescribed pain pills which I needed. Today the finger is quite swollen and I feel a bit weak but I think everything will be fine. Good luck with your surgery.

@finger
Congratulations on successful surgery!
I also had hand surgery on same side as mastectomy. I had fractured a finger.
I had discussed it with my oncologist before surgery and informed the surgeon.
All went well.
@auntieoakley - I hope you will do well too.

I had surgery on both wrists for inflamation in my thumbs just a few years after my double masectomy. Everything went well and I had no negative reaction to the surgeries. And my problem was solved.

I had a double mastectomy 9 months ago. Within 3 months I developed bilateral trigger fingers. Rt after my 2nd reconstruction surgery I had shots in my thumbs. They worked, but this week, the shots wore off abruptly. I’m seeing my hand surgeon next week. I know the shots aren’t the long term answer. I knew this had to be connected to my mastectomy bc I hadn’t had it before & it developed bilaterally within 3 months. Hearing people’s experiences helps me feel validated in my belief this is related to my mastectomy.

Have you ladies with trigger finger taken an AI? Trigger finger is a known, but not common, side effect of AIs. I developed it in both thumbs about two months after starting Anastrozole. My doc knew it could be caused by the drug, so I took a month-long break—the trigger finger quickly disappeared! But when I started letrozole, it immediately retuned. We then crossed our fingers and turned to exemestane—and hooray, no trigger finger! My doc said she knew it was a possible side effect, but had never personally seen it in any of her patients until me.

This should be fine, just be sure that they know. This avoids any surprises later.

My Dr. took me off Anastrozole when I reported the trigger thumbs and intestinal issues. Was on it 31/2 months. I just took my first dose of Exemestane today. My thumbs haven't resolved and I will start therapy , OT, soon. I have only been off Anastrozole a little over 2 weeks though. My Dr.'s nurses had never heard of the trigger thumb problem with AI's