Posts Tagged drain

Reader Question: Help My Seroma Won’t Go Away!

Posted by admin in Dr D's Truth on March 8, 2013

I had a tummy tuck two months ago. Now I have a little water-filled “pouchie” above my couchie where the water waves move when I poke it. My surgeon says it is not a problem and will go away. Should I be worried?

A seroma is a lymph filled pocket in your soft tissues. We are most aware of them when they are just under the skin as they can demonstrate a “fluid wave” phenomenon when they are tapped. Larger scale surgery is more of a risk toward the formation of a seroma and tummy tuck surgery is included.

On the positive side, these things tend to resolve when small and wounds are newer. The longer they manage to persist, the greater the chance that they will not go away, but rather form a scarred in cavity that will tend to stay. In a worst case scenario they can require surgery to fix. Alternate treatments include draining them intermittently with a needle or with a drainage tube or injecting them with a chemical to encourage them to shrink or go away. Opinions as to how often or urgent treatment of a seroma is vary substantially. Left alone they can mar good tummy tuck results, so I like to deal with them quickly. My tummy tuck results have benefited by this policy by my way of thinking. I haven’t needed to re-operate to repair one in over ten years.

Seromas are best avoided. The best ways to do this involve the proper use of drains and compression garments after a large scale operation as well as tailoring that operation to be less risky.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

Originally posted 2011-06-09 07:30:09.

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Chelsea Charms and “String” Breast Implants That Continue To Grow

Posted by admin in Dr D's Truth, plastic surgery news on May 13, 2011

Chelsea Charms in an adult entertainer with super-sized breasts. A feature at “This Morning” reported:

Originally from Minneapolis, 35-year-old Chelsea had her breasts enlarged by means of a now illegal procedure in which polypropylene string was implanted into each breast.The material irritates the breast lining, creating a serum which enlarges the breasts, a process which could continue indefinitely. Chelsea has added she would eventually have her breasts reduced and the polypropylene removed. But at present they are still growing at a rate of one inch a month. Chelsea explained to a shocked Ruth and Phillip: ‘Most of the other girls who have had this procedure have stopped at some point so I’m just waiting for that to happen.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1386352/Chelsea-Charms-woman-largest-breasts-world–164XXX–appears-This-Morning.html

String or polypropylene breast implants are thought to continue to expand by absorbing body fluid. This process is usually not self-limited or controllable. These implants are not made of the usual materials found in other conventional breast implants, but rather polypropylene strings. These strings are designed to irritate adjacent breast tissue in a non-painful manner. This irritation causes fluid to accumulate in the breasts after the strings are implanted. The fluid often continues to accumulate for the life on the implant. It can require frequent trips to the doctor to manage the fluid collections sometimes by drainage. It might also cause scarring making breast cancer harder to detect. The continued breast growth more often than not continues to freakish proportions if the strings are left in place.

These implants were only placed in the US for a short period of time before the FDA pulled their PMA concerned about the unusual process they seemed to perpetuate. No “above board” US surgeon uses them as of this time.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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