Breast Reduction Surgery / Reduction Mammoplasty

Written by Dr. Gayatri, MD Anaesthesiology | Medically Reviewed by Dr. Sunil Shroff, MBBS, MS, FRCS (UK), D. Urol (Lond)

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Complications

Post-operative complications include complications related to anesthesia or complications related to surgery. The complications of surgery can be of general nature or be more specific to breast reduction surgery.

Common complications due to general anesthesia include

Nausea and Vomiting
Sore throat
Chest Infection and fever

Post-operative general complications include-

Bleeding,
Wound infection,
Clot formation,
Swelling,
Pain
Hypersensitivity of the wound,
Clots in the blood vessels of the leg or deep vein thrombosis (DVT)

Complications due to Breast reduction Surgery

Loss of sensation over areola or nipple
Skin of the areola and nipple may get devitalized and decay away, which is consequently corrected by further surgery. This is the most devastating complication after such a surgery and may happen more in women who smoke or who have very large breasts.
Breast tissue or fat also may undergo 'necrosis' or decay of the cells.
The breast may feel a lot firmer than before.
It may not be possible to breast-feed a baby following a breast reduction and this has to be clearly understood before undergoing the surgery.
Occasionally asymmetry of the breasts can result and revision surgeries may be needed.

The patient will be immediately relieved of pain and discomfort that they felt before the operation. With the passage of years, and changes in weight and hormonal conditions in the body, the size and shape of the breast may change and one may then have to undergo a revision surgery. deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is an rare complications as is injury to the chest or lung and nerve injuries.

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