There are many patients who want to know whether they would need drains after a breast reduction surgery. While the use of drains is normal in plastic surgery, there are some plastic surgeons who use them after a breast reduction and then there are those who think it is not necessary after the intervention.
Drain cannulas are used to help drain away any excess fluids that may be discharged by your body and get trapped under the skin after any surgery. Some surgeries are more probable than others to trigger fluid discharge from the body. The fluids may accumulate under the skin at the surgical site, creating complications. The drain cannulas are used to remove the fluid.
When it comes to the use of drains after a breast reduction, it basically indicates the surgeon’s comfort zone, the procedure’s intensity, and the amount of trauma your body might have received during the procedure. Some plastic surgeons always use drains, no matter what. There are also others who would never use them.
In my practice, I don’t use drains for breast reductions. However, when there is a risk of fluid accumulation as indicated by the trauma, incisions, and injury to your body, I use drains after breast augmentation. There is absolutely no harm in using drains.
Also, I have observed that most breast reduction patients do not require drains. As a result of the improvements in technologies and surgical processes and techniques over the years, the need for drains after breast reduction has drastically decreased. For example, the use of electrocautery has reduced the need for drains by considerably cutting the volume of fluid excretion by the body after the surgery.
Due to technological improvements, most plastic surgeons are no longer using drains after breast reduction on a regular basis. Instead, they are evaluating the patients to decide if they actually need drains.
There is no doubt that majority of patients hate drains because they feel uncomfortable with it. If your surgeon thinks the drain tube is necessary for you after breast reduction surgery, you must obey. The drains will remain in place until the fluids discharge from your body decrease below 30cc per day. It would take a few days for this to happen.