Reply To: Seroma?

[LD50]

ajm222 In 2019 I had an open tissue repair of a very large incisional hernia. A seroma formed soon after the surgery and became very large. Though I never met with the surgeon again in person, I sent photos of the area while I was laying supine and he thought it was softball sized, but I think it was closer to soccer ball- really huge. I had US imaging done several times since to follow it. US showed that it transformed into a hematoma and back again (no indication of black/blue on my skin when it was a hematoma, since the seroma itself is deeper than skin level).

The surgeon didn’t want to drain it because apparently draining increases the risk of infection and most seromas resolve on their own within a couple weeks/months. Also, I became much less motivated to travel to the surgeon or go to a local doctor or hospital for treatment due to the pandemic lockdown which started a few months after my surgery. My seroma may have lingered as long as it has (the imaging center where I have had all of the imaging done on the seroma says the remainders of the seroma are still present) because shortly post-op, I did manual therapy on my abdomen to relieve the pain and I received a session of acupuncture on my abdomen specifically in the area of the seroma. US showed that the seroma transformed into a hematoma shortly after I started a Chinese herbal formula (Jin Gu Die Da) that is supposed to mend bruises by bringing blood to the bruised area. US showed the hematoma transformed back to a seroma over a couple months after I stopped taking that formula.

Incidentally, prior to the operation, the surgeon had advised against post-op abdominal massage and acupuncture. We can learn from this that being a non-compliant patient has real risks, don’t do manual therapy or have acupuncture on the seroma area itself and that from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, seromas aren’t bruises.

Also, many years ago I had a small seroma from a previous abdominal surgery which ruptured about a week post-op. The doctor gave me a couple rounds of antibiotics to treat any infection and the area healed rapidly. Apparently some people are prone to seromas, so now that you know your body forms seromas, make certain to inform any other surgeon you may need in the future that you had a seroma.