Adhesion Stitches to Avoid and to Treat Seroma

Abstract

Hematomas and seromas have been described over the decades by general surgeons and specialists from different areas. At conferences, symposia and congresses, the statistics have not been precise but quite discrepant. In the speciality of aesthetic plastic surgery, the incidence varies from zero to 90%, according to the speaker’s ego, making it impossible obtain real data about this problem. The statistics found in publications on the subject are also variable. In recent meetings on aesthetic abdominoplasty, the numbers have been even more curious, with speakers emphasizing that theirmethods aremore efficient in avoiding seromas. The literature is rich in publications about this problem [6, 9, 21]. Hundreds of articles refer to the presence of seroma in the postoperative period with the presence of dead space as a result of moderate to huge dissections, in particular in the donor areas in reconstructive surgeries [4], [14]–[19]. The different types of procedures used in the postoperative period after seroma detection are well known. The use of fibrin glue and irritant products to provoke the adhesion of the surfaces always associated with the use of vacuum and Penrose type drains has also been described [1, 5, 7, 8, 11].