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I Had Surgery About a Year Ago to Fix a Hernia with Diastasis (Twin Pregnancy)- Now, Have a Build Up Of Fluid. What Do I Do?

asked 8 months ago by anon
Latest answer by Alan Engler, MD
Question viewed 120 times
Tags: 1 year post-op, diastasis recti, fluid, options

Since the surgery/drain removal, I've had reoccuring fluid collections.I've had CT-guided drainage 4x in the last year and then sent home w/drains for 1-2 weeks each time.It's been 2 months since the last one and I now have a huge pocket of fluid again. It hurts to touch my stomach. One surgeon said she wants to remove the mesh and drain the fluid by opening me completely up again.Another surgeon said to leave it and to manage it with pain meds and it will go away on it's own. What do I do?

3 answers to I Had Surgery About a Year Ago to Fix a Hernia with Diastasis (Twin Pregnancy)- Now, Have a Build Up Of Fluid. What Do I Do?

+2

Tummy Tuck - I Had Surgery About a Year Ago to Fix a Hernia with Diastasis (Twin Pregnancy)- Now, Have a Build Up Of Fluid. What

I'm very sorry about your course since your surgery. Unfortunately, though, a chronic seroma - which is presumably what you have at this point - requires surgery for correction. In general, you need to have the scar tissue that's formed around the fluid (the "pseudobursa") removed - that's part of why the fluid keeps accumulating - along with anything that may be contributing to the fluid, such as the mesh. It seems radical, but a foreign body and/or the... more
Alan Engler, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon
+2

Chronic Seroma After Tummy Tuck

Thank you for the question. I'm sorry to hear about all the trouble you have been experiencing since your surgery. Unfortunately, at this point I think the only good option is to surgically drain the seroma, excise the scar tissue around the seroma, remove the mesh, suture the abdominal wall flap back to the abdominal wall fascia (to promote adherence of the flap to the underlying fascia) and use several drains. I hope this helps. more
Tom J. Pousti, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon

www.poustiplasticsurgery.com

+1

Managing Recurring Tummy Fluid collections after Hernia Repair with a Mesh

From your question I understand you to have had a Tummy Tuck requiring a mesh repair of a large hernia a year ago which was followed 4 times by large fluid collections treated each time by CT scan guided insertion of drains but the fluid continues to form. The most recent fluid collection is "huge" and you have been told by one surgeon it would get better by leaving things alone while the other surgeon suggested the mesh needs to be removed completely. The use of mesh repair in... more
Peter A. Aldea, MD

Memphis Plastic Surgeon

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