The Department of Plastic Surgery and Interdisciplinary Surgery - Central Tropical Diseases Hospital has just received and treated a case of severe breast infection after cosmetic surgery.
The patient is Ms. L.T. T (43 years old), currently living in Germany. During her time in Vietnam, she decided to undergo cosmetic surgery to improve her figure. About two years before that, the patient had undergone breast augmentation surgery combined with liposuction to shape the abdomen. However, due to dissatisfaction with the results, she continued to undergo breast enlargement and restraint surgery at a medical facility.
After about a month of surgery, the patient began to show abnormal signs such as mild fever, swelling and pain on both breasts, and fluid and pus discharge from the incision. Within two months, she had to undergo three surgeries to remove the implant, remove the necrotic tissue, and clean the abscess, and also undergo many high-dose antibiotic treatments. However, the infection did not improve significantly, especially in the right breast. After that, the patient was transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases to continue treatment.
Upon admission, doctors recorded that the patient's right breast was swollen, with widespread skin necrosis with a skin defect area of about 5 x 8 cm, and cloudy discharge. The left breast, although the surgical wound was relatively healed, was still very painful. MRI results showed images of necrosis and fluid buildup in the parenchyma and subductal cavity on both sides of the breast. The patient was diagnosed with infection and abscess of the breasts on both sides after surgery.
According to Dr. Duong Manh Chien - Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Interdisciplinary Surgery, this is a complex treatment case. The patient had undergone many previous surgeries, and infectious lesions spread throughout the mammary parenchyma, making infection control more difficult.
One of the difficulties for the treatment team is not having complete surgical records as well as a list of drugs used before. Therefore, doctors must conduct a comprehensive assessment of the disease status, from identifying the bacteria causing the infection, the extent of tissue damage to the scope of necrosis to develop a suitable treatment regimen.
It is expected that the treatment process will be divided into at least two stages. In the early stages, doctors perform surgery to thoroughly remove the abscess, remove all necrotic tissue and infected tissue. After controlling the infection and granular tissue developing well, the patient can move to the breast restoration plastic surgery stage.
Doctors recommend that when people have a need for cosmetic surgery, they should choose a licensed medical facility to perform cosmetic surgery; Doctors performing surgery must have a practicing certificate in the correct specialty; Patients need to strictly follow post-operative care instructions and re-examine on schedule.
