Reoccurring seroma, anyone?

By BellyBGone on 16 Jul 2011

I am 18 PO and had one drains removed at 3 days and the other (probably too soon) at 10 days po. T week following the last drain removal, I developed swelling/fluid in the lower abdomen, above and below my incision. The PS said it was a seroma and removed 70cc. Two days later, he removed 55cc, which was 3 days ago. Only now, the fluid is back and looks to be about the same volume as was last removed. I see my PS on Wednesday and he will likely need to drain the area again. He said it could take 4-6 wks for this to resolve itself. Anyone else have experience with reoccurring seromas? I'm doing really well otherwise and am back to most normal activity (work, etc) with the exception of any exercise. Would really appreciate hearing from folks who have had similar experience. Thanks.

Comments (7)

Doudy 23 Apr 2012

Im Doudy

Hi All, im 7 weks postop im having a Seroma as well , no im 47 CC & z doctor told me that wouldnt drain it and that the body should deal with it and dissolve by itself , im still wearing my compression but sure im devastated , no fun ,no nightlife,no pool or beach .Hopefully will get better soon

momiemkovr 17 Aug 2011

HI ladies... I have a ridge or small roll above my tummy tuck incision. I also have much less of a roll beneath it. Is this what your all explaining as seroma? I am now just 12 days post op. My incision looked like this when I woke up from surgery and it has gotten better. My PS does one drain. It was removed last week. I ask my PS at he time I had my stitches and drain removed if this was normal. He said everything looks exactly the way it was supposed to look. I can't seem to find one picture of any body who looks the way that I do in pics posted here. I know my PS from a previous breast Aug. ten years ago. I went to him because he is known for such fantastic work! I go back in three wks. ( full TT w/ breast lift and reduction, I really needed the lift 10 yrs ago but wanted to wait incase I had more children. I did :-) he is now three. boy 3 girl 21 )

Happy135 1 Aug 2011

My tt was on march 31 and I developed a seroma about 10 days later. Mine was alot bigger than you ladies are saying yours was my ps was getting about 130cc out in the beginning. About 4 to 6 weeks later it all cleared up. Mine is above my belly biton area also. Nyla said that scar tissue is going to form around where the seroma is and it did (there's a slight bulge there). He said once I hit 6 months if it isn't flat them he will go back and do some in office lipo. Take it easy you only get one chance to recover! I defintly started doing things too soon.

hg.girl 19 Jul 2011

I too am dealing with a seroma. I had my drains out at 4 and 6 days, my output was under 20 cc's. Ten days later I had 25 cc's removed from my upper abs. One week later it came back, only now I am home...far away from my PS. The hospital here is too afraid to drain it so I have a receiving blanket under my girdle with my binder on top of that. Not fun...I am 21 days post-op.

BellyBGone 20 Jul 2011

Hi Mayela and HG,
I went back to my PS yesterday and he drained 65cc--about a week after the last aspiration of 55cc. I started wearing my binder intead of full body garment (under boobs to above knees), hoping to apply direct pressure to the lower abdomen, where my seroma located. So frustrating! HG, I think our surgery dates were the same 6/28.

My PS said this could take 2-3 mos to go away! Ugh. I am ready to get back to exercising, too. Have either of you started back?

Angiemcc (Community Manager) 17 Jul 2011

I'm sorry you're having this issue with seromas. What a pain! Here's what some doctors have to say about a woman who's 6 weeks post op and experiencing seromas. Hope it helps!

Mayela72 19 Jul 2011

My drains were removed 10 days after procedure. I developed a seroma on top of my belly button five days later. PS drained a full syringe and a couple of days after that, he drained 30 cc more. I am seeing him tomorrow again to be drained one more time. He said we may have to repeat this several times, but it will stop eventually.