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Breast Reduction
What are the risks?

Serious complications are rare; however, you should consider them carefully before making your choice about whether or not to pursue surgery.

Bleeding, Bruising and Swelling
Swelling is inevitable after surgery of this nature but usually resolves over a few months. Where liposuction is used to reduce fullness around the side of the breast, some additional bruising and tenderness should be anticipated.

We will take measures during surgery to stop any bleeding before closing the skin. Occasionally though, bleeding may occur within the breast after surgery, causing swelling and pain. A haematoma is a significant collection of blood within the breast tissue that requires a further operation to drain the blood and seal the bleeding vessel. It usually occurs within the first 24 hours after surgery, and does not normally delay your discharge or affect the overall results of the surgery. It is extremely unusual to require a blood transfusion after breast reduction but iron supplements are occasionally required if you become anaemic.

Infection
All surgery presents a risk of infection but we take care to minimise this. Minor superficial infections sometimes occur and may be related to a small buried dissolving suture just beneath the skin. Such infections usually respond to antibiotics and more significant infections requiring a wash out under anaesthetic are rare.

Scarring
The downside of breast reduction surgery is that scars are inevitably placed on the breast itself. Most of the time, these will settle very nicely and most patients are not troubled by the scars. After any major surgery such as breast reduction, areas of skin ulceration or breakdown along the scar are possible. These areas will normally heal spontaneously without further intervention but may require a prolonged period of dressings.

As surgeons, we do our very best to minimise the length of the scars and improve their final appearance. Occasionally however, scars are not optimal and revision may be required.

Other

Fat or Nipple Necrosis
The blood supply to the breast is very robust but breast reduction also reduces some of the blood supply and nerve supply to the remaining breast tissue and skin. Normally, this is of little consequence. Occasionally however, a portion of the fat remaining within the breast may struggle to survive with its residual blood supply. It will become hard before the body eventually breaks it down and takes it away. This is known as fat necrosis and rarely requires surgical intervention. Similarly, necrosis of all or part of the nipple is a possible but rare complication of breast reduction surgery. Areas of numbness or hypersensitivity may be noticed after the surgery and these tend to improve or settle with time.

Altered nipple sensation
Nipple sensitivity may be reduced (numbness) or increased (hypersensitivity) after breast reduction. The latter tends to reduce in time but numbness may persist. Similarly, nipple erectile function may be lost after surgery and may never recover.

Nipple Inversion
Occasionally the nipples may invert after breast reduction surgery. Often this will spontaneously correct itself but this is not always the case and a small operation may be required to correct this problem if desired.

General
Breast reduction carries the same risks as any operation under general anaesthetic including chest infection and thrombosis in the veins in your legs (DVT). You may reduce this risk by stopping smoking and coming off the contraceptive pill; however, you should not consider surgery while there's a chance you may be pregnant.  

Plastic surgeons design their operations to minimise all the risks but these may still occur. Complications of all types are more common in smokers and overweight patients. So it is advisable to stop smoking at least three weeks before any surgery. If you are overweight, try to reach your target weight before surgery. This will also benefit the final result.

Aesthetic outcome
Most patients are highly satisfied with breast reduction surgery despite the potential for minor complications and extensive scarring. Occasional problems such as minor asymmetry, puckering at either end of the scar, known as 'dog ears', or unsightly scars, can detract from the overall beneficial effect. Most imperfections are amenable to further relatively minor revision procedures at a later stage if desired.

 

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What is right for me?
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What are the risks?
What can i expect afterwards?
Getting back to normal