AboutAlan M. Engler, MD, FACS Expertise Dr. Engler has answered over 2700 plastic surgery questions for Allexperts. His expertise is in cosmetic plastic surgery including breast surgery (breast enlargement with implants, breast reduction, breast lifts), liposuction, eyelid surgery, tummy tucks, facelifts etc.
Dr. Engler has been listed as one New York`s Top Doctors, and as "One of the World's Most Famous Aesthetic Surgeons" (Aesthetic Surgery, TASCHEN Books, Angelika Taschen, Editor). He is the author of 4 books, including "BodySculpture" (a best-selling plastic surgery book on breast surgery, liposuction and tummy tucks), "EyeScapes" (Plastic Surgery of the Eyelids), "Restylane," and "The Slim Book of Liposuction."
Dr. Engler has two US Patents for surgical instruments that he's designed, and has appeared on numerous television shows, including The Tyra Banks Show, The Ricki Lake Show (four times), and the Dr. Keith Ablow Show. Videos of his appearances are available on YouTube (SEARCH FOR "DR. ENGLER"). His website is www.bodysculpture.com.
Experience Dr. Alan Engler is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York and the author of BodySculpture - Plastic Surgery of the Body for Men and Women (ISBN 0966382749) one of the top-selling plastic surgery books on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, etc.
Education/Credentials Dr. Engler graduated from Yale University (undergraduate) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (medical school). He did his residency training in General Surgery and, after that, Plastic Surgery, at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York. He is on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Question Hello, Im a 36y/o male that had pectoral augmentation in February of 2007, 14 months after my surgery i developed a case of Seroma, my surgeon performed 3 aspirations before recommending to get a minor surgery to insert a seromacath for drainage, everything went well, then a year after in March of 2009 I developed a Seroma again on the same side, the right pec, and once again he performed the same procedure of the seromacath for drainage, had the drainage for 2 weeks, he removed it then about 1 month after i developed the semora again for the 3rd time, he did an aspiration and i have been using a compression garment ever since them, sleeping on my chest as much as I can and taking some Prednisone Prescription my doctor prescribed me. Now I'm not sure if I should give it a few weeks and see if the seroma gets absorbed or have them removed.
Answer from Dr. Alan Engler
www.bodysculpture.com
Hi Fernando,
It's virtually impossible for me to make a recommendation like that without being able to examine you. However, repeated seromas is certainly troublesome, and I understand your concerns.
One problem, though, is what you will look like after over two years of having an implant in there. If you take them out, what will the skin look like? So my first thought is that it would be good to try to keep them in. You've already had three seromas, so you may have to consider taking the next surgical step - removal of the scar tissue an reinsertion of the implant. If you search for pseudobursa and seroma on this site you'll see previous discussions of that topic.
The simplest thing, of course, is to just remove the implants, and I would understand your doing so. I would, however, be concerned about what it would look like afterwards.
You should obviously discuss all of this with your PS.
