Quantitative Comparison of Drainage after Primary Breast Surgery with and Without Drains

Background: No quantitative study has been done to study the fluid drainage with and without drains after breast reduction surgery. Closed suction drainage exerts a considerable amount of pressure on tissues and might increase drainage. Therefore, this study aimed to comparethe effect on breast reduction surgery of closed suction drainage with no drainage. Methods: A group of 12 female patients underwent breast reduction surgery. A drain was placed in the right breast and no drain in the left breast. The drain fluid volume in the right breast was the amount drained plus that detected by sonar until the drained mount was ≤30ml/24hrs. The residual volume in the left breast was detected by sonar only. Results: The mass of tissue removed ranged from 820g to 2250g in the right breast and from 760g to 2240g in the left breast. The volume of fluid in the right breast ranged from 24-423ml and in the left, 7-127ml. The residual volume in the left breast was found to be always less than 30ml/24hrs and was 8 times less than in the right breast, which had the drain. There was no correlation between the fluid volume and mass of tissue excised. Conclusion: Within the limitation of the small number of patients, it can be concluded that closed suction drainage can be omitted in large breast reductions without extra complications, and that the amount of residual fluid can be considerably reduced.