Getting a Seroma Drained by Someone Other Than my Plastic Surgeon?

I am sorry to hear about your difficult situation. You are experiencing one of  the dreaded outcomes of Plastic Surgery Tourism. Even in the most qualified and experienced hands, complications can happen after surgery. When your surgeon is in another country, the complication is even harder to accept. The best person to handle a complication is the original surgeon as only he/she knows exactly what's been done to you. Furthermore, no one cares more about you than your original surgeon. When an American Board of Plastic Surgery certified surgeon has a complication, we go to great lengths to get our patient through it (typically without further charges or minimal charges to the patient).

 

The best place for you to start with is to ask your primary care physician to help you find a surgeon. Unfortunately, the money you saved in going to the Dominican Republic for surgery will be lost to paying for the complication. Most surgeons will be compassionate to your condition, but also expect to be compensated. Hopefully you can find a surgeon who will treat you for a nominal fee (enough not to be insulted or reminded that you chose not to pay them full price originally in favor of flying to a developing country). I would charge $50 per aspiration, others may charge up to $250 or more. If you need an indwelling catheter (drain) to be placed, I would charge $250 for its placement, others may charge up to $1000. Call ahead and ask.

 

Good luck.

You have hit upon one of the major problems with medical tourism.  It can become a case of "penny wise, pound foolish".  Your seroma will probably require multiple asirations.  You most likely can find someone willing to help you, but the costs will be out of pocket.