Breast reduction surgery|Results for breast reduction

What are the possible complications?

The following are the potential problems that may occur after breast reduction:

Scarring:  Troublesome scars can be cosmetically improved by injecting cortisone into the scar to flatten it.

Using the vascular lasers to remove residual redness.

The pigment removal lasers to treat hyper-pigmentation and the carbon dioxide laser to resurface uneven lumps and bumps. 

If the scar is dramatically white or the nipple.

Has an abnormal appearance color can be implanted into the tissue using medical tattooing techniques inBreast reduction surgery.

ematoma:  A hematoma is a collection of blood. 

A sudden increase in swelling, pain and tightness in one or both breasts is an indication that there is a hematoma within the breast. 

The drainage tubes put in place after surgery remove small amounts of blood and serum but do not prevent hematomas: they must be surgically drained.

  It is important to realize that hematomas are a potential complication of most types of surgery and are not a reflection of the quality of the surgery.  Rather, the early recognition and appropriate treatment of the hematoma is an indication of a surgeon’s skill.

Nipple complications:

Loss of sensation in the nipple’s rare and unpredictable.  Women with large breasts often have poorer sensation in the nipple area than do women with smaller breasts.  Therefore, the potential sensory loss in women requesting a reduction mammo-plasty does not seem to be as critical as for women requesting breast augmentations.

Poor blood supply and The inability to breast-feed is a potential problem as well, and occurs in approximately 50% of cases.  There is also a risk, although rare, that the nipple and areolar complex will die due to an insufficient blood supply following the removal of adjacent breast tissue.  This occurs more often in older women, smokers and women who have diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure than in other people.  This condition is usually recognized at the time of surgery because the nipple and areolar complex turns white or dark blue indicating circulation problems.  When this occurs during the operation the nipple and areolar complex is usually removed and placed on as a graft.  If the problem arises after surgery is complete, along with the underlying tissue, will die, and the healing process will be prolonged. Over a period of 3 months the dead issue is removed by the surgeon, while the breast slowly heals.  When the site has completely healed, a nipple reconstruction may be considered.  Permanent coloration (medical tattooing) of the areola can be helpful in creating a natural appearance of the nipple, in these cases.

Fat Necrosis: 

Poor blood supply and an area of fat that has died as a result of poor blood supply is called fat necrosis.  It is characterized by a firm, hard lump in the breast and often some redness of the overlying skin.  The body temperature usually increases for a few days mimicking an infection.  If the necrosis is small, it usually resolves spontaneously over a period of weeks.  If the affected area is larger it may require surgical removal of the dead fat, which could result in size asymmetry when healing is complete.

Infection: 

Infection rarely occurs in breast reductions and, therefore, antibiotics are not usually prescribed as a precautionary measure after surgery.

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