Drainage tubes after double mastectomy and recontruction

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1

Hi all

I underwent a double mastectomy and reconstruction last friday and still have the chest drains in and they will not remove them until they are less than 30ml.

How long were yours in for?

Thanks

2

Mine came out when the quantity draining was <30ml in 24 hours.

For me this was four nights after surgery - I had surgery on the Tuesday morning, and was told first thing on the Saturday morning that the drains could come out and I could therefore go home.

3

Hi All,

I had bi-lateral masectomy and recon in dec 08 the drains from my chest came out after 2 days but i came home with one in my back which was left in for 7 days.

Take Care

Leslee x

4

Hi all,

I had a single mastcetomy, and was told the same: drains to be removed when draining less than about 30ml. For me, this was 9 days after the op (although I came home on day 3), but I also needed to be drained 3 times after that (which sounded awful, but was painless, so don’t worry!).

We are all different, but hopefully the range of replies will give you an indication of what you may expect.

Best wishes,
Julie

5

Thank you for your replies. I still have the drains in at post op 10 and draining in excess of 80ml each side, so I guess a while yet. They did remove 6.5 kg of breast tissue though