Necrosis After Breast Reduction -

Fat necrosis after breast reduction is a form of tissue necrosis. It results from an inflammatory response within the fat compartment, which causes localized fatty degeneration and liquefaction. Fat necrosis may occur after breast reduction surgery (reduction mammoplasty). Breast augmentation or silicone breast implants can also be associated with this condition, which can occasionally be life-threatening.

In this guide, we review the aspects of Necrosis After Breast Reduction, treatment fat necrosis after breast reduction, fat necrosis after mastectomy, and what causes fat necrosis in breast.

Necrosis After Breast Reduction

If you’ve had plastic surgery, keeping an eye on your surgical incisions is critical for catching any signs of infection: if you see oozing of yellow liquid or discharge, redness, pain, or warmth—or if you have a fever—contact your personal plastic surgeon ASAP for an evaluation.

As an expert in surgical wound healing, your board certified plastic surgeon is the person you should contact first, before your family doctor or another medical practitioner. Plastic surgeons are also familiar with traumatic fat necrosis (TFN), which mimics a bacterial infection but is unfortunately possible, though rare, after some plastic surgeries.

Traumatic fat necrosis

Traumatic fat necrosis (TFN) is the death of a small area of fat cells due to a loss of blood supply. TFN is most likely to occur after a trauma to the area, such as surgery, injury, a biopsy, or radiation for cancer therapy. Fat necrosis is a wound healing abnormality that most commonly occurs in the breasts, i.e. after breast augmentation, breast lift, or breast reduction plastic surgery, and tends to occur near or below the nipple-areola complex.

Signs of a fat necrosis

If you have yellow leakage from your early post-surgical incision, it’s absolutely critical to see your plastic surgeon as soon as possible in case it’s an infection for evaluation. While there is a possibility that it is harmless, it should be evaluated by an expert who understands both conditions.

If you have a yellow leakage from your incision site, it may be either a bacterial infection, which requires treatment, or “traumatic fat necrosis,” which is not dangerous, and doesn’t require treatment.

How is breast fat necrosis diagnosed and treated?

Breast fat necrosis may be diagnosed via a thorough breast examination, or may require a mammogram if it appears as a lump in the breast. Aspiration of the lump (a.k.a. removing the fluid inside) with a fine needle may be necessary, or a biopsy may be taken.

Once diagnosed with certainty, a fat necrosis will usually resolve on its own, and does not require treatment. Note that any changes to your breasts should always be discussed with your doctor as soon as possible, whether or not you’ve been diagnosed with fat necrosis.

Infection of surgical incisions

Infection of a surgical wound after plastic surgery is not just dangerous, but can also negatively affect aesthetic outcomes. This complication is rare (less than 1% by most estimates) in the hands of an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon who operates in fully accredited surgical facilities. Unfortunately, infections may be more likely when patients travel abroad for budget cosmetic surgery as “medical tourists.”

It’s critical to first see your original plastic surgeon if you experience fluid leakage from an incision site for an examination and diagnosis.

To prevent the risk of infection, reputable plastic surgeons screen patients for risk factors, prescribe preventative antibiotics, use surgical drains to remove fluid buildup at the site, and advise you/monitor your progress on proper post-operative care: keeping the surgical wound clean and limiting your physical activity to avoid irritating incisions.

treatment fat necrosis after breast reduction

Breast fat necrosis is a non-cancerous breast condition that forms when there’s damage to fatty breast tissue. Women of any age can develop breast fat necrosis in any area of the breast, but middle-aged women with larger breasts may be most at risk.

Breast fat necrosis is harmless, but you’ll want to check with your doctor to rule out any chance of breast cancer.

Causes of Breast Fat Necrosis

The breast consists of milk-producing glands and ducts surrounded by fatty tissue. Lumps can form in this tissue when the breast is damaged or injured. Any procedure that disrupts the breast’s fatty tissue can lead to breast fat necrosis.

While your body typically replaces damaged breast tissue with scar tissue, sometimes the fat cells end up dying. If they do, a greasy fluid is released and collects into an oil cyst, which feels like a lump in the breast. Women who undergo surgery can end up with breast fat necrosis up to 10 years after having a procedure.

It’s important to note that if you’ve been diagnosed with breast fat necrosis, it doesn’t mean you have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Signs of Breast Fat Necrosis

Breast fat necrosis typically feels like a round, firm lump to the touch. Some women experience tenderness, bruising, or dimpling in the area where the breast fat necrosis appears. Sometimes it can pull in the nipple.

When you undergo a breast reconstruction that involves autologous reconstruction (using a flap of tissue from a different part of your body), the fat in that piece of tissue may not have sufficient blood flow and end up dying. Breast fat necrosis from the procedure may not become noticeable until months later.

Smaller breast fat necrosis formations can dissolve or go away without further treatment. However, some can become large and painful enough to distort the look and feel of the breast.

Diagnosing Breast Fat Necrosis

You may notice the lumps when performing a self-breast exam at home or come across them during a general inspection of your body. The skin may look redder or thicker around the lump. While it’s typically not painful, it’s a good idea to see a doctor about any unusual lumps in your breast.

With a physical exam, your doctor may not be able to distinguish the symptoms of breast fat necrosis from cancer. If this is the case, they may recommend that you undergo diagnostic imaging (like an MRI) so that they can get a better look at the shape and texture of the lump.

They may also suggest getting a biopsy to take a sample of your breast tissue to confirm whether there are cancerous cells in the area.

Treatment for Breast Fat Necrosis

If your doctor confirms a diagnosis of breast fat necrosis, they may recommend waiting to see if it resolves without treatment, especially if it’s small and not causing you discomfort. It can take several months for the breast fat necrosis to break down.

Your physician may recommend that you have surgery to remove the growth if:

To remove the fat necrosis, a surgeon will cut out the damaged or dead tissue. Before the operation, they’ll provide you with a local or general anesthetic. You may end up with a small scar, but this typically fades as time passes.

Liposuction is another option for removing the fat necrosis. Your surgeon will use a local anesthetic and make a small cut into your skin. They will then insert a vacuum device and use imaging as a guide to remove the dead and damaged tissue.

Having liposuction reduces the chances of having a divot in the area where the damaged breast tissue has been removed. If you do end up with some dimpling or other unevenness in the breast, your surgeon may fill in the area by performing a small flap reconstruction or using fat injections to add volume.

You should continue monitoring any changes to your breasts that happen before or after you receive treatment for breast fat necrosis. Let your doctor know about any concerns you have about the overall health of your breasts.

fat necrosis after mastectomy

Breast fat necrosis is harmless, but you’ll want to check with your doctor to rule out any chance of breast cancer.

Causes of Breast Fat Necrosis

It’s important to note that if you’ve been diagnosed with breast fat necrosis, it doesn’t mean you have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Signs of Breast Fat Necrosis

Smaller breast fat necrosis formations can dissolve or go away without further treatment. However, some can become large and painful enough to distort the look and feel of the breast.

Diagnosing Breast Fat Necrosis

They may also suggest getting a biopsy to take a sample of your breast tissue to confirm whether there are cancerous cells in the area.

Treatment for Breast Fat Necrosis

Your physician may recommend that you have surgery to remove the growth if:

what causes fat necrosis in breast

Fat necrosis is a benign (non-cancerous) breast condition that can develop when an area of fatty breast tissue is injured. It can also develop after breast surgery or radiation treatment. There are different stages of fat necrosis. As the fat cells die, they release their contents, forming a sac-like collection of greasy fluid called an oil cyst. Over time, calcifications (small deposits of calcium) can form around the walls of the cyst, which can often be seen on mammograms. As the body continues to repair the damaged breast tissue, it’s usually replaced by denser scar tissue. Diagnosis of fat necrosis and oil cysts Oil cysts and areas of fat necrosis can form a lump that can be felt, but it usually doesn’t hurt. The skin around the lump might look thicker, red, or bruised. Sometimes these changes can be hard to tell apart from cancers on a breast exam or even a mammogram. If this is the case, a breast biopsy (removing all or part of the lump to look at the tissue under the microscope) might be needed to find out if the lump contains cancer cells. Doctors can usually tell an oil cyst by the way it looks on a mammogram or breast ultrasound. But if it could be something else, some type of needle biopsy (a fine needle aspiration or core needle biopsy) might be done. How do fat necrosis and oil cysts affect breast cancer risk? These breast changes do not affect your risk for breast cancer. Treatment of fat necrosis and oil cysts As long as doctors are sure of the diagnosis, fat necrosis and oil cysts usually don’t need to be treated. Sometimes fat necrosis goes away on its own. If a needle biopsy is done to remove the fluid in an oil cyst, it can also serve as treatment. If the lump gets bigger or becomes bothersome, however, surgery may be done to remove it.

Fat necrosis is a benign (non-cancerous) breast condition that can develop when an area of fatty breast tissue is injured. It can also develop after breast surgery or radiation treatment.

There are different stages of fat necrosis. As the fat cells die, they release their contents, forming a sac-like collection of greasy fluid called an oil cyst. Over time, calcifications (small deposits of calcium) can form around the walls of the cyst, which can often be seen on mammograms. As the body continues to repair the damaged breast tissue, it’s usually replaced by denser scar tissue.

Diagnosis of fat necrosis and oil cysts

Oil cysts and areas of fat necrosis can form a lump that can be felt, but it usually doesn’t hurt. The skin around the lump might look thicker, red, or bruised. Sometimes these changes can be hard to tell apart from cancers on a breast exam or even a mammogram. If this is the case, a breast biopsy (removing all or part of the lump to look at the tissue under the microscope) might be needed to find out if the lump contains cancer cells.

Doctors can usually tell an oil cyst by the way it looks on a mammogram or breast ultrasound. But if it could be something else, some type of needle biopsy (a fine needle aspiration or core needle biopsy) might be done.

Necrosis After Breast Reduction