Seroma after drain removal? What questions should I ask the surgeon?

This happened to me. Mine ultimately got infected and I had to have the tissue expander removed. I feel like it was avoidable though- plastic surgeon and her PA brushed off my concerns initially and by the time the seroma was evaluated it was also infected. I’d call your doctor right away to make sure.

I just had a drain put in on my right side for the swelling 40 ml came out. I asked about antibiotics and they told me it was not necessary. I do fear getting a infection. I am at the Mayo clinic. It was done by my surgeon in office with an ultrasound . I have very little swelling on the left side, so decided to wait and see if my body will absorb the fluid..

I had the same thing 3 weeks after dmx. I went back into surgery to drain a litre of fluid and reinsert a drain. It has been two weeks and the additional drain was just removed. I still have a small amount of fluid under my arm. Seeing my surgeon for fu next week

I had a mastectomy and only three nodes removed, but I still developed lymphedema and a persistent seroma in my arm pit.
My surgeon did a needle drainage of it about 4 times. At that point I went to Mayo and interventional radiology placed a drain using guided imagery into my arm pit and it remained for about 10 days. When it was removed, it did not come back.

I have a seroma too, since double mastectomy in December ‘23. The surgeon aspirated it twice in office without any attempt to manage the pain. It did hurt but would have well worth it if it worked. It didn’t. So I still have this soft mass of fluid, almost as big as a softball. I don’t like it and it’s sore by the end of the day. Question for your doctor? How to permanently, and relatively painlessly, get rid of it? I don’t know if that’s possible. I should ask my doctor too...best wishes to you.

Im sorry you’re going through this.
I recently had my DMX and I’m curious if you know what caused the seroma?
I see people who are anxious to have their drains removed. I am too. But I’m wondering if removing them too soon could cause it?

Hi yes I believe removing the drains to early can cause a seroma . My out put was at the right # to be taken out . But I my have been using my arms to much . I did not left anything heavy, but have been reaching too far and pushed open heavy doors. my drain came out seven days after surgery. I wish I waited longer. I was only following the directions that the hospital and surgical nurse gave me to call after two days of low fluid output. The nurse who removed my drain, told me she had never seen the drain tube move down the breast s
As she pulled it out . she believed that it broke up all the skin that was attached to the wall. After speaking to the doctor she was told if I only had it in 14 days that would not have happened. I had a second drain put in my right side. Hopefully this will get all the fluid out and chest and the wall will close up internally.

Every case is different I'm sure. I had a mastectomy in December 2022 and the drain inserted was problematic for the entire two weeks in place, getting clogged, etc. It was taken out when the clot was inside the tube portion in my chest cavity. I developed a seroma that required draining almost weekly for 12-14 weeks, with 3 weeks of radiation during that period. I finally got to a point where I was uncertain whether the aspiration was causing the problem and decided I was stopping it. One nurse told me sometimes they never go away. In my case, it largely resolved itself by May 2023, but I still have some fluid in that area which I'm just living with now. It is a pretty minimal amount really so I'm grateful for that. Even my surgeon was surprised how long it lasted, but he said my mastectomy was pretty invasive. Serums are a bit daunting to experience but I believe the vast majority of them go away much faster than mine. Elle