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01-06-2016 | Ideas and Innovations

Vacuum-assisted closure in the treatment of seroma after axillary lymph node dissection

Authors: Charlotte Caspara Uth, Vibeke Egerup Bentzen, Lisbet Rosenkrantz Hölmich

Published in: European Journal of Plastic Surgery | Issue 3/2016

Abstract

This paper describes a novel approach to the treatment of otherwise refractory seromas by applying vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) to the seroma cavity. Foam is inserted in the cavity thru an incision in the skin, and the VAC is applied with a continuous suction, which presumably makes the open lymph vessels collapse. When the lymphatic output declines, the size of the sponges and hereby the size of the cavity is reduced successively. We present a 74-year-old man with a malignant melanoma suffering from seroma in the axilla after an axillary lymph node dissection. The lymph production decreased after 2 days resulting in closing of the cavity and cure of the seroma.

Level of Evidence: Level V, therapeutic study

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Title: Vacuum-assisted closure in the treatment of seroma after axillary lymph node dissection
Authors: Charlotte Caspara Uth
Vibeke Egerup Bentzen
Lisbet Rosenkrantz Hölmich
Publication date: 01-06-2016
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: European Journal of Plastic Surgery / Issue 3/2016
Print ISSN: 0930-343X
Electronic ISSN: 1435-0130
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-015-1153-7

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Vacuum-assisted closure in the treatment of seroma after axillary lymph node dissection

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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