Hi
I have found out today that I will be having a therapeutic mammoplasty for a grade 1 ER positive tumour. The dressing will be a Pico dressing that has a battery and creates negative pressure on the wound for a week after surgery. I haven’t heard of this before. Does anyone have any experience?
Oh yes, i had these for therzpetic mammoplasty. I think it was quite successful in one way as i didnt have too much swelling. It was a bit of a pain tho as it kept beeping when it shouldnt and sometimes not beeping at all. I had to keep resetting it. In theory a good idea, just have to make sure it works correctly. The nurses will go through it with you. The surgeons have been using them in my unit for a few years now.
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Hi @daffodil6
I had these as I had therapeutic mammoplasty and reduction , so one each side. They are good but very fiddly. They do beep a lot and if there is any leakage it blocks them up so they stop. I had to go up to the emergency treatment centre as mine failed. Only problem was not every nurse has experience of fitting them, and it took 3 attempts to get them working. I did heal nicely however. Along with my two drains it was one of the most awkward parts of my treatment.
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One end of the dressing will lead to a tiny box. The vacuum is very mild, so shouldn’t be painful. Its a very good system that encourages wound healing and deals with any slight oozing. Made a change having one myself for a mild but resistant wound infection, rather than being the one looking after patients with one. There’s enough length to dangle it down and slip the box in your pocket if wearing jeans or pants. Its usually silent but will vibrate a bit if you have a leak in the seal so its trying too hard to maitain the pressure, in which case you can patch the seal until its redressed at clinic.
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Yes, I was given Pico dressings after my single mastectomy. The dressings hardens over the wound which gives it some extra protection, and it creates a negative pressure environment which aids healing. As mentioned the battery pack is on a lead, mine was long enough to live in the bag with my drains. It does vibrate at you if you get into a body position it doesnt like, but once you reajust its fine. The light of the battery pack does flash, so put it somewhere out of sight at night. They should say on them how many days they last for, so don’t panic like I did if it switches off after that length of time (5-7 days I think).
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