Abstract

When no postoperative suction drains were used the incidence of seromas was found to be unacceptably high in various studies. Prolonged drainage on the other hand, may increase the hospital stay and increase the risk of infection by allowing retrograde migration of bacteria. Indiscriminate or premature withdrawal of postoperative drains irrespective of the amount of fluid drained may be accompanied by an increase in the incidence of axillary seromas. This comparative study was conducted in Department of Surgery in which FNAC/Core biopsy proven cases of breast cancer were randomized using randomly ordered sealed envelopes, which were opened immediately before the closure of the wound, into two groups having 20 cases each. All patients with clinical suspicion of Breast cancer underwent Core needle biopsy. Patients with core needle biopsy proven malignancy were admitted one day prior to surgery. All patients underwent complete routine and metastatic workup and were posted for MRM. Wound complications included marginal flap necrosis in one patient of group A which required refreshening of wound margin under local anesthesia. Surgical site infection was noted in 2 patients of group A and group B. All of them were managed by daily dressing with povidone iodine containing solutions and no resuturing was required. Seroma formation was noted in 2 in group A and 1 in group B, two of which spontaneously resolved and one patient in group a required repeated seroma aspirations which were done on outpatient basis