Question:
Anyone with FAT NECROSIS, please share...

I had a panni 5 months and still have an open wound and pain. My surgeon has consistently blamed "fat necrosis". Granted, that has been an issue, but 5 months?!!! Seems extreme to me. Please share any experiences you've had. Timeframes, complications, etc. I believe he lumps everything there and ignores significant other possibilities like infection. I'm trying to decide if there's any kind of negligence going on here! THANKS!    — jen41766 (posted on February 1, 2004)

February 1, 2004
Without specifics about your wound I can't say too much. I can tell you the signs of an infected wound is yellow/green drainage, some times it could be blue/green, and foul smelling. Most times an infection will cause you to have a fever too, but not always. Typical wound beds should be beefy red or look like raw beef. Yellow or black tissue in or around the wound bed is usually unviable or dead tissue and needs to be removed. Large open wounds do take a long time to heal, sometimes several months depending on location, pressure to the area, nutrition, and type of wound. The best thing that you can do to help your body heal is make sure you are getting in your protein as it helps heal body tissue. You may want to increase your protein until your wound heals. Also, you can take additional Zinc and Vit C as well. You can email me privately if you wish to be more specific about your wound. I'm a home health nurse and will be going for my wound certification in May. Also, if you are unhappy with your surgeon's care you can always seek a second opinion. I found this link for you on tummy tucks stating Fat Necrosis as a possible side effect. http://www.drcherup.com/plasticsurgery/body_tummytuck.html I hope this info is helpful.
   — adeas

February 1, 2004
Perhaps you should see a wound care specialist for a second opinion? There aere docs who specialize in such troubles. I had a couple portssites that did this but it cleared up within a month.
   — bob-haller

February 1, 2004
Jennifer... I had a breast reduction 3 years ago and had a similar experience. I had an open sore for almost 4 months post-op and spend 3 of those months with a pic line sucking up 2000mg of antibiotics a day. THey still never "really" figured out what the cause was. I felt it had something to do with the surgery itself. Are you taping your incisions? Some times (as in my case) you are allergic to the tape and that causes problems. I wish I could give you a better answer but I still dont know what caused my prob. Did you have any problems with your WLS? Well, I hope you get well soon. You should ask your doc about IV antibiotics. That was the only thing that got rid of mine. Wishing you well...Lisa
   — Lisa C.