Sometimes, it is unavoidable to prevent seroma from occurring after a plastic surgery has been performed. The good news is, there are ways to prevent seromas, Before you learn how to prevent them, you should understand first what a seroma is. It is a term used to describe a localized fluid collection at the surgical site. Most of the time, seromas occur in any plastic surgery procedure where liposuction is performed. It can also happen when excess skin is removed, thus, creating a potential space for fluid to accumulate. The body reacts by releasing hormones that promote fluid and swelling in specific surgical sites during the surgery.
Do not worry too much because seromas are very common after surgery. The problem associated with it is how it is defined in different studies. Seromas occur in more than 50% of patients having surgery within the first 2 weeks. What you should understand is that seromas are something that you should not be extremely concerned about. Most seromas will disappear by themselves after a few weeks. Patients develop very small fluid cavities in different areas of the body, but for the most part, these fluid collections are small and are resolved by only using a compression.
To prevent seromas, girdles can be used as the main treatment. During compression, the fluid gets reabsorbed by the body if you use the girdle 24/7 for the first 4 weeks. You can only take the girdle off for a few hours to wash it or to take a shower. On the other hand, some patients can develop large seromas and this will require more than compression to resolve. Sometimes seromas need to be drained. When the seroma is drained, essentially all the fluid is removed. Typically, seromas reoccur after draining, but serial drainage ultimately will resolve the problem.
