Lat flap back sutures rejecting

ktz123r

I'm 4 weeks out from bi-lateral lat flap recon. At the end of week 3 the scar on the left side of my back started looking a little weird. Got worse and worse and I finally went to see the PS. Apparently my body is rejecting the "dissolving" sutures before they dissolve.

Anybody else had to deal with this before?

DebiTCO

I had the same thing happen! Along my incision on my abdomen [had DIEP and TRAM] and also where I had sentinel nodes removed!

I kept spitting them out. I was seeing a local surgeon [live in CO and had surgery at MD Anderson] because I had my incision on abd. opened. He just snipped them and pulled them out. It is not a running stitch, so no problems as far as having incision open from snipping.

I commented to him that it was a good thing I didn't have implants done or my body might have spit those out too!!

Hope you are doing well now.
Debi

nana2thegrls

I also had a few spots on my tummy incision.. The P.A just snipped them out as they tried to come to the surface instead of disolve..it didnt hurt since I have no feeling there.. I just put neosporin on it and eventually it closed up...

barbara913

yes, i had some suture spitting too from my lat flap... they were annoying because they would pinch, but my surgeon just snipped them and it was fine. i never had that problem on the implant sutures, maybe they use something finer on that part.
barbara

ktz123r

How long does it take before it's all healed? I'm real frustrated with all the oozing. Did you keep them covered or leave it open?

barbara913

if i am not mistaken, my ps told me it could take up to 90 days for the dissolving sutures to dissolve. mine didn't ooze at all... you may want to have that checked out.
barbara

nana2thegrls

I kept mine covered and put neosporin on them, it took a couple of weeks maybe like 3 weeks,or more...

good_grief

I'm 7 weeks post op and my surgeon also told me my body was rejecting some of the dissolvable stitches along my abdomin after my tram flap. It first started about three weeks post op and my incision opened. I had to clean and pack it 2x a day. Yesterday another area about an inch away from my opening also started opening. Saw the PS today and he cut the skin between the two openings so I would only have one open area to clean. When he removed the stitch that was there it started bleeding so he had to stitch that little spot back up. He said it's healing nicely from the inside out and it's not very deep anymore. But it looks discusting to me. I hate having to clean and pack it every day. He said it should be healed in another 4 to 5 weeks. But someday this will all be a faded memory. And I can't wait til that day comes.
Take care,

Mary

barbara913

mary,
hang in there... that day will come
barbara

klwinsa

I'm 6 weeks out from DIEP flap and my incision has opened up in two places, I'm packing it three times a day, but since I'm waiting on chemo, my ps is going to go back and surgically fix it so I don't have to wait so long. I haven't heard of that being done very much, don't know why any ps would make you endure the packing thing if it could be surgically fixted and shorten the recovery? May be just the thought of another surgery doesn't apeal to many.

Anyone else go back and have the incision surgically repaired after opening?

Kim

leener

I had my implant pulled last Tuesday, and my ps says it'll be about 3 mos before we can do the latisimus procedure. I am so nervous and I feel so mutilated now mith no implant on the right side and flat, poofy, scar ridden skin on the right. I am so nervous that the next procedure will fail too and then what?

I am so depressed and uncertain. I see the ps tomorrow to have the drain removed. What should I ask about?

tam1953

Kim -- I think it depends on how deep the incision opened and at what stage of healing. I'm post ped TRAM and mine opened clear down to the mesh, but I've had some people respond with more superficial openings and theirs were closed surgically with good results. I'm on a wound vac now which is supposed to cut healing time in half. I will probably end up with another surgery after mine heals more from the inside out. If yours can be closed with another surgery, I'd say that's the way to go as the way I'm doing it is a hassle I wish I could have avoided. Tam

tam1953

Eileen -- it's too bad you have to go through this. I had healing problems post TRAM so know how disappointing it is. I think I'd just ask point blank what makes him think you won't have healing problems post latissimus procedure. He should be able to deliniate some of the risk factors that contributed to your healing problems this time. I don't know enough about it to know what they might be, but he should. I know I will be asking this question before any surgery I have from now on. One thing that contributed to mine was that with a TRAM there is a lot of tension on the incision, so I'm hoping this wouldn't be the case if I had some other abdominal procedure. Good luck to you. It sounds like you have a long haul ahead of you. Ask questions, but don't count on the worst. You may very well sail through the next operation with flying colors. Tam

GoodMommy

Eileen,

I had the lat. flap on my radiated side after a failed expander surgery. I can understand your frustration and disappointment. I had been warned that there was a possibility that the expander would fail in the radiated breast; but I was bull headed and wanted to try it anyway. Well, I ended up with 2 infections and the breast looked like a tennis ball while the prophylactic side looked great. After the second infection and the expander almost poking through the skin, I knew I was just asking for trouble. As a result, I had the lat. (I would have preferred the DIEP but only 1 surgeon does the DIEP in my area and the wait was forever. Besides, I had waited a full year after radiation to try the expander/implant. Anyway, the lat. was an easy surgery for me and the results are really great. You can see my pictures on the Picture Forum. I currently have expanders in both sides and will go for the exchange probably in October. Keep asking questions of your surgeon, find out why you've had the failures and don't be afraid to get another opinion. Good luck.

God bless,

Chris

Frill

I am so glad to hear I'm not the first person this happened to. I'm almost a month out from the last flap and everyone was cooing about how beautifully everything was healing. Then Saturday I asked my sister to look at my back. Right in the middle of the incision it's opened. Luckily my bff is a nurse and she came over and has kept things together till I could get a non weekend dr at MDA.

The front is fine, it's just the scar on my back. Prayers, please. I'm about to get her up and start rattling cages over there to see what to do