Routine drainage in breast reduction surgery

Abstract

Women with macromastia (enlarged breasts) suffer from a variety of physical, social, and emotional ailments. As a result, they may elect to undergo a breast reduction procedure, known as a reduction mammoplasty (RM), as a corrective measure to remedy the deleterious effects associated with their enlarged breasts. RM is one of the most frequently performed procedures in plastic surgery. As with any surgery, RM may cause several complications such as infection and bleeding, and some surgeons opt to utilize drains in an effort to decrease the incidence of these problems. However, some surgeons do not believe that drain use benefits the patient and, in fact, drains may even contribute to further scarring and patient discomfort. Few studies assess the need for drains in RM. It remains a controversial topic and presently, there is no consensus about drain utilization in this procedure. The purpose of this study is to conduct an examination of the literature ofthis subject and conduct a survey of plastic surgeons who perform RM in order to determine current trends with regard to drain use. Based on our data, there are no notable differences in complication rates between surgeons who use drains versus those who do not, and routine drainage in RM continues to be the standard practice despite its controversy.