Worried about my seroma 3 1/2 weeks post abdominoplasty. Opinions/suggestions? Should have it checked more often once a week?

Hello,
You are correct. And that is why I fully encourage my colleagues to stop using drains (and start using progressive tension sutures). Drains are data proven to increase your risk of this most common of tummy tuck complications.  Your surgeon may have misspoke, but they typically require multiple aspirations, and the key is to never let it fill back up again. If yours came back in 48 hours, you need to be drained daily, or have a percutaneous closed suction drain placed, or simply open a small portion of your incision to expose the cavity, allowing it to heal from the inside out. I would start with multiple aspirations on a daily basis for a week to see if things slow down. Best of luck!

Dear laney_bee,seroma can occur after tummy tuck. In most cases it resolves after a few aspirations but there are cases when drain is required. It would be the best for you to follow your surgeons instructions and discuss your concerns with him/her.Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS 
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery  
Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery

Seroma after abdominoplasty is not too unusual and typically does not cause any long-term problem. It just needs to be adequately drained. If it recurs after several attempts at needle aspiration, it may be helpful to insert a drain for a few days.

and they do go away with serial aspirations done on a weekly or more often basis if obvious the fluid has returned.  Infection of this is minimal if good technique is used with aspirations.  Reinsertion of a drain is only done for refractory seroma's that will require some intervention to resolve, such as sclerotherapy.  It will go away eventually...

I have found that the best chance to resolve it with aspirations is frequent aspiration (every 2-3 days max) so as to allow more prolonged contact between the attempting to heal surfaces before being separated again by the gathering fluid. In my experience, if the fluid is not decreasing by 30%-50% with each aspiration it is better to insert a drain before any lining begins to form on the inside surfaces which can prevent resolution and require surgery to remove.