• Wen-Hui Yan, Jian-Bo Mang, Li-Li Ren, and Da-Lie Liu.
• Department of Plastic Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University/The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280; Department of Breast Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518116; Department of Breast Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518020, China.
• Chin. Med. J. 2018 Jul 20; 131 (14): 167416791674-1679.

BackgroundThe latissimus dorsi (LD) flap procedure remains a popular and useful breast reconstruction tool in China and Western countries, and donor site seroma formation is the main complication. This study was conducted in Chinese patients to determine whether stable cases of seromas would resolve without treatment.MethodsA.Unlabelledretrospective review of 45 consecutive cases of immediate breast reconstruction with LD flap from April 2012 to February 2017 was conducted. The scope of the seroma was demarcated with a marker pen, and cases that remained stable over time (i.e. the size of the seroma did not increase) were observed without treatment. The measured outcomes included the incidence of seromas, the volume and duration of postoperative wound drainage, and other demographic characteristics.ResultsTwenty-four patients (53.3%) developed a seroma at the donor site. Of these, 21 patients (87.5%) did not require treatment, and the seroma resolved over time. The mean duration of a sustained seroma was 6.8 ± 1.4 weeks (range: 4-9 weeks).ConclusionsThis study observed the scope and progression of the seromas and found that seromas at the LD donor sites resolved over time without treatment.

18 keywords...

hide…