1 month post op of Tummy Tuck and Liposuction. How do I treat a calcified seroma?

It appears you have a seroma and I would recommend going back to your doctor soon to be evaluated and have the fluid drained.  This is done in the office and is easy to do.  If you wait, it may be more difficult to remove and could possibly require a surgical procedure.

You should have and need to return to your plastic surgeon.  This is a seroma. It needs to drained again and the drain needs to be left. Continued compression is also helpful.  

I recommend you to visit you plastic surgeon as soon as possible and get the seroma drained befor it becomes persistent. It would be more difficult to treat if that happens. Good luck!

I would encourage you to go back to your surgeon and have him/her evaluate. At times this fluid (seroma) becomes loculized and a scar capsule forms around it. Oftentimes a simple aspiration will suffice in draining the fluid. This may have to be repeated several times. If the capsule is allowed to mature with time, complete removal may be necessary.It puzzles me that you refer to it as a "calcified seroma". Did they find calcifications of the wall on CT scan or is this an expression that a doctor in the ER used? Calcification at 1 month out from your TT just does not happen. If indeed the CT scan showed calicifications, it needs to be investgated further. In any case, return to your surgeon for advice. Good Luck.

Seromas are annoying but very treatable complications of tummy tucks.  At one month post-op, there is still a chance that this can resolve without surgery.  The longer it lasts, however, the less likely it is to heal with conservative therapy.  Drainage of the seroma is a good place to start, with the placement of an indwelling catheter drain like a Seromacath to keep the space empty so it can seal up.  If this doesn't work, a sclerosing agent can be instilled into the seroma to irritate the walls of the pseudo-bursa cavity that forms around long-standing seromas.  In particularly stubborn cases, the seroma simply needs to be excised and the area closed.   I would set up a visit with your Plastic Surgeon for evaluation.

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. If seromas continue despite multiple aspirations over an extended period of time, then you need to start thinking about re-openning the incision and excising the entire capsule, both from and back walls, to treat the seroma. Drains need to be placed, internal sutures placed, possibly using a tissue glue or irritant to encourage the tissues to grow together.Best wishes,Pablo Prichard, MD

You need to see your plastic surgeon and ask about draining the seroma, possible sclerosis, and if that does not work, excision of the seroma cavity. 

It sounds like you may have developed a pseudo bursa.  A pseudo bursa is scar tissue that has formed around a seroma.  Most thick pseudo bursa formation do not go away on their own and have to be surgically removed.  To accomplish this a partial or full tummy tuck revision will be needed.  Additional repairs or improvements to the abdomen and waist can be made at the same time if needed.  All the best,Dr. Remus Repta