Complications of Breast Implant Surgery: Hematoma
The photo above is of my son having his first haircut and has nothing to do with the article below.
One of the common problems with breast implant surgery is bleeding around the implant right after the surgery. When the pocket for the breast implant is placed, it’s sometimes impossible to do this in a way that produces no bleeding, though we try as hard as we can. Additionally, after the surgery, a compressive wrap is often placed in the hope that this will help. Sometimes however the area surrounding the implant will end up with significant blood in it within a few hours and other times it will even fill up with blood. This space is closed and sealed, so the pressure that develops in the cavity will generally stop any bleeding before it becomes dangerous to your health but it can be uncomfortable. The tip-off is usually that one breast becomes much bigger, more swollen, and more bruised than the other one. We can look at the breasts with a bright light in a dark room and this can help distinguish whether the area is just swollen or contains blood.
The blood should be taken out by returning the patient to surgery, opening the incision, taking the implant out, washing the area with a few quarts of sterile salt water solution, putting the implant back, and then sewing up the incision. Sometimes if bleeding vessels are found, they are “cauterized” or burned with the special device used for this purpose. This procedure is usually done at 24 to 48 hours after the original surgery. Only rarely does bleeding become apparent after this time.
Why is this important, and why can’t we just depend on the body to clean up the blood on it’s own? Well, “capsular contraction” or firm to hard scarring around the implant (later) is much more common when there’s blood surrounding the implant initially that the body has to remove. Recovery time is also much longer when there’s a “hematoma” or blood in this area. This complication happens in perhaps a few percent of all breast cases, and is probably more common in secondary cases, in other words in cases where the breast has been operated on before.
See also link for a discussion of other breast implant risks and second link for a general discussion of complications in cosmetic surgery risks.
The blood should be taken out by returning the patient to surgery, opening the incision, taking the implant out, washing the area with a few quarts of sterile salt water solution, putting the implant back, and then sewing up the incision. Sometimes if bleeding vessels are found, they are “cauterized” or burned with the special device used for this purpose. This procedure is usually done at 24 to 48 hours after the original surgery. Only rarely does bleeding become apparent after this time.
Why is this important, and why can’t we just depend on the body to clean up the blood on it’s own? Well, “capsular contraction” or firm to hard scarring around the implant (later) is much more common when there’s blood surrounding the implant initially that the body has to remove. Recovery time is also much longer when there’s a “hematoma” or blood in this area. This complication happens in perhaps a few percent of all breast cases, and is probably more common in secondary cases, in other words in cases where the breast has been operated on before.
See also link for a discussion of other breast implant risks and second link for a general discussion of complications in cosmetic surgery risks.
