Very large seroma two weeks post surgery on a six month old Aussie.
Baldy had a large number of hamartomas on his scalp that kept breaking open and getting infected. He was on antibiotics for 5 out of his 6 months. He had a big surgery March 10th, where they removed his scalp and pulled skin from his neck to his eyebrows. All was going well until 10 days ago when a huge seroma formed all around his neck, like a big bladder. They put two drains in for five day. Drains came out last Friday. The seroma is back. Surgeons say it’s best to just compress it unless health wise something changes, since more drains won’t help much and are risky for infection. But how big can this get and will it cause delamination in the scalp that was healing really well ( hair growing and no necrosis) . Just wait it out even if really big? Picture shows just one side of neck before it got even bigger. My estimate is a good 1/2 cup of fluid.
Also that “dog ear” is from the flap they pulled up. It was stitched again. It looks odd but that is not the problem. It’s all the fluid …
Hello,
It sounds like your vets have done what they could and I agree with the plan that they gave you. As far as how big it might get I can’t answer that. And probably no one else can either. As far as long low it will last that probably is just as speculative. I would do what you are doing and monitor closely for any changes. It’s the best we can do in most of these cases. Good luck.
Oh. And please stay in touch with your vet. They are your best asset.
Thank you for answering. Barring an infection, could a seroma undermine the success of a large graft ( single pedicle advancement) like that? So far hair is growing and nothing looked infected or necrotic