Question:
Fluid pooling under healed incision

I had open RNY on July 15,2002. My incision has healed great but underneath there is a softball size lump. My surgeon has said that it is fluid and it should dissipate or incision will open and drain on it's own. It has'nt so far.There is no sign of infection. Has anyone else had this happen to them post-op?    — Sherri Z. (posted on September 29, 2002)

September 29, 2002
I have seen these on other types of surgical incisions. They usually open up on their own and express whatever is inside. It is not unusual for there to be a portion of a dissolvable stitch inside that is irritating the area and the body will surround it with fluid and eventually get rid of it by suddenly opening up and expressing its contents. It is usually not painful, just messy.
   — Darlene P.

September 29, 2002
I had some fluid come through while in the hospital. It made a large stain on my gown. The nurse got the surgeon on duty who took a Q Tip with no tip and jabbed me a few times and wiped it off with a gauze pad. TALK ABOUT PAINFUL!!! Glad your doctor did not do that to you. It should open and then be alright. I had no pain until the doctor intervened.
   — Lawrence R.

September 29, 2002
I had open RNY on 9/3/02 and about 8-9 days post-op I had a softball size area build up at one end of my incision. I had no signs of infection but I called the doctor and they put me on some antibiotics anyway. My incision had pretty much healed up by that time. I applied warm, moist heat to the site and that usually brings up the fluid to the surface. A few days later, I let the hot water in the shower hit the area for a few minutes. When I got out of the shower, my incision opened up and about 2 cups of bloody, thick drainage poured out. I saw the surgeon, he opened up my incision about an inch and we just let it drain until it healed on it's own...which took about a week. One week later, I developed something that sounds very similiar to what you have described on the opposite end of my wound. I went back to the surgeon and he saw that it was about the size of a baseball. He did an ultrasound in his office...he was looking for collected fluid on the ultrasound but could not detect any. He then inserted a needle into my healed incision but was unable to aspirate any fluid. He didn't seem to worry about it...he thinks that it was probably due to the scar tissue and he said the fluid would probably absorb into the nearby tissue. The swelling did go down...I don't have the baseball size mass but I do have little "hills and valleys" when I look down at my mid-section!! I'm a nurse and I think that if you have no signs of infection...no redness, no fever, no increased warmth at the site, and no pain...then it will probably be okay. Your wound is way too healed at this date to open up and drain anything. Try letting very warm water from the shower head beat down on your area...I think that helped my mass reabsorb back into the tissues. But, in doubt...check it out...and it's always a good idea to keep your doctor aware of changes. Hope this helps. Good luck!
   — CARMEN M.