Turkia Abbed, MD

Congratulations on progressing through your reconstruction! More importantly, congratulations on laughing and enjoying your life so soon postoperativley! Yes, tightness, tenderness and pain can be common at and around the surgical sites for 1-2 weeks after surgery. This is often triggered with coughing, sneezing, laughing, and getting up/down from sitting position. Severe and persistent pain is not normal and you should notify your surgeon. Pain associated with redness, drainage or fevers/chills should all be signs to contact your surgeon immediately. 

Best of luck with your journey!

I agree that the drain is safe for removal when the output is less than 25ml over a 24 hour period. 

Although the drain may sometimes be uncomfortable or inconvenient, it is very important to be honest about the drain output to prevent the drain being removed too early. 


If a drain is removed too soon, a seroma (build up of the fluid under the skin that the drain was collecting) may form requiring drainage through the skin. This also increases the risk of infection. 

Every patient is unique and their body will react differently to the surgery, the implant and the drain resulting in varying duration for drain removal. The average is 4-7 days.