How Long Does It Take to Stop a Seroma From Draining After Surgery for Silicone Implants?

Significant fluid collections following breast augmentation should be investigated aggressively. It's unusual for patients to have isolated seromas following breast augmentation surgery. In most cases, this type of problem is related to either post-operative bleeding or infection. For this reason, re-operative surgery is usually necessary to determine the cause of this problem and treat whatever condition is found.For these reason, it's important that you consult your surgeon as soon as possible. Under these circumstances, re-exploration will probably be necessary. If infection is found, there's a strong probability that treatment will require implant removal and systemic antibiotics.

Seromas that form following breast augmentation are uncommon, but need to be cared for appropriately.  There are two reasons to treat a seroma. 1) Seromas can potentially become infected. 2) Seroma fluid around an implant can possibly increase the risk of developing capsular contracture. Before anything is done, you should get an ultrasound of the breast to see if the fluid collection is in direct communication with the breast implant. If it is, you want to consider having it drained surgically.

Spontaneously draining seromas a month after breast augmentation makes me highly suspicious of an infection. You probably will not like it but your best bet is to remove the affected implant for 3 to 6 months before placing another one with a course of antibiotics starting yesterday. The end result will be better than ending up with a chronic infection that intermittently responds to antibiotics but eventually leads to bad capsular contracture.

My response to your question/post does not represent formal medical advice or constitute a doctor patient relationship. You need to consult with i.e. personally see a board certified plastic surgeon in order to receive a formal evaluation and develop a doctor patient relationship.

Seroma formation after breast augmentation is very unusual, but can happen.  It is very important that you follow closely with your surgeon to ensure that there are no signs of infection.  

 

Good Luck.

My experience with breast fluid collections (seromas) is that they often resolve on their own - this sometimes takes a while, but any intervention into the seroma risks contaminating the implant. I prefer to leave these fluid collections alone unless their are obvious signs of infection or ongoing bleeding.