My Doctor Aspired Fluid but Nothing Came Out - What Now?

Typicall we will use needles like he did looking for a seroma or fluid of some sort.  Four months out you typically would have felt a swooshing sensation if there was fluid in there.  Some people can have persistent swelling and it has nothing really to do with anything that you can poke into to drain.  Often, some are fuller than they thought prior to surgery but this if for the heavier framed patients.  Difficult to tel if that's your case.  Best wishes,

Thank you for your post. Seromas can be painful and cause a cosmetic deformity, as well as sometimes leak. The whole point of drains is to keep a seroma from happening in the first place. If a drainless procedure was performed, and you had a seroma, or you had drains that were pulled and you subsequently had a seroma, then you should be drained, otherwise a capsule builds around the fluid making it permanent. If a capsule builds around the seroma (pseudo bursa or encapsulated seroma) then the only way to remove the seroma is to surgically open the areas and excise the capsule, and close over drains to prevent another seroma from happening. If the seroma is encapsulated and is tight and painful, then it can be confused with just swelling or fat. An ultrasound is useful in distinguishing these and identifying the extent of the seroma. If the seroma is not yet encapsulated, then it is usually loose and has a 'fluid wave' or water bed type feel. Occasionally, a seroma can also become infected, especially if a permanent braided suture was used. This will have a hot, red appearance, and will eventually open up. I have never seen an infection from sterile aspiration of fluid.Best wishes,Pablo Prichard, MD