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Background: Seroma
formation, or the subcutaneous collection of fluid, is a common problem after
surgery for the breast cancer. It may lead to wound-related complications and
also can delay adjuvant therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the
effect of various clinical and therapeutic variables on seroma formation.
Methods: A prospective cross sectional study of patients who
underwent surgical therapy for breast cancer was carried out. Modified radical
mastectomy was performed on 67 patients (65%) and 28 patients (27.2%) underwent breast conservative surgery. Simple
extended mastectomy was done for the remaining 8 patients (7.8%). Seroma
formation was studied in relation to age, type of surgery, tumor size, nodal
involvement, preoperative chemotherapy, surgical instrument (electrocautery or
scalpel), use of pressure garment, and duration of drainage. All of the
patients followed for 4 weeks after surgery.
Results: A total of 103 patients with breast cancer were studied. The mean
age of the patients was 48.3 years (25-82). Seroma occurred in 27 (26.2%) patients. There was
statistically significant relation between age and seroma formation after
breast cancer surgery (p=0.005), while other factors studied was found to be
significantly ineffective. In addition, there was not any relation between
seroma formation and drain duration. However, two factors including type of the
operation and level of lymphatic dissection was considerable with confidence
interval up to 90%, but it was not statistically significant with
confidence interval >95% (p=0.068 and 0.063 respectively).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that the age is a predicting
factor for seroma formation in breast cancer patients, while other factors do
not significantly affect that.
