Hematoma After Surgery

[bob1989]

I ve had the surgery for 2 weeks now , there was a lot of swelling on my right chest.
5 days after the surgery , the doc checked it out , he said that there is some blood inside that needs to be removed.
He first used some needles to take the blood out , which did give me some relief from the pain , but the next day , it was still hard to touch and painful.
The doctor then drained out the blood under local anesthesia and then he put some bandages .
Now 1 week after the blood being taken out , the chest is still very hard to touch and there is a lot of discomfort.

Please help me , any suggestions will be appreciated .
Why is this happening and do i have to get the blood drained again

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Any collection of blood will eventually be absorbed by the body -- but the presence of the blood incites the production of scar tissue.  Common sense dictates that getting the blood out will lessen any scar tissue.

Treatment of a hematoma varies with the patient and with the surgeon, who knows what occurred during surgery.  If there is only a small amount of blood, then watchful waiting and periodic removal of the liquified blood with a syringe may  be OK.  If there is a large collection of blood, then opening the incision and physically removing the blood clots may offer the best approach.

Best to discuss this with your surgeon.

Dr Jacobs

[Litlriki]

Dr. Jacobs has nicely described the typical course of events after development of a hematoma following surgery. In either case, even after removal of most of the blood by aspiration or surgical evacuation, the area can remain firm and more swollen than the side without hematoma.  This takes time to resolve, but during that period, it's wise to see your surgeon a few extra times to be sure that fluid or more blood is not re-accumulating. 

Rick Silverman

[Miguel Delgado MD]

Hematomas are common after gynecomastia surgery. In my practice it occurs about 5 percent.  It needs to be evacuated and washed out for anything significant. You can compare the size to the opposite side to see if it is similar in size.  It should be slighty larger due to the blood collection that was initially evacuated.  However, more fluid can accumulate. Follow up with your doc with any concerns.

[DrPensler]

Hematoma is one of the most common complications after gynecomastia surgery. The extent of the Hematoma may have the healing expedited by drainage. Also the drainage may be repeated in some cases to speed recovery. There is always some firmness after drainage but I would recommend you check that aspect with your surgeon.

[bob1989]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions  ...helped me a lot ,  i went to my doc and he drained out some blood via aspiration ...it is better than before but it still has swelling ...both the chest now look same ..only swelling is there on right side..im wearing the garment everyday, i have an appointment tomorrow again ...
thank again everyone