The following post from our forum is from a woman who had an operation that removed fat and skin only from her body and has to go back to the doctor every few days to get fluids drained. She is wondering where the fluid is coming from and why it is doing that.

Date: 01/07/2011 Submitted by: AdelineWhere Does Surgery Drain Fluid Come From?

I had a domplasty when they only cut my skin off, and some fat. Why is it always filling up with fluid, and every 2 days my doctor drains a lot of fluid out, why is it doing that. Where is this fluid coming from?

RESPONSE

Date: 01/07/2011 Submitted by: Tanner

Adeline,

I am not a doctor and can’t give you a good medical explanation. I tried to find the answer on the internet but finding a simple answer to your question is not as easy as you would think it would be. The following explanation is what I pieced together from my research. It may not be 100% correct.

Anyway, as I understand it during surgery the surgeon cuts through skin, tissue and fat. These may contain small blood vessels that are also cut or ruptured which lead to a certain amount of internal bleeding (inside the body when blood leaks from blood vessels or organs).

After the operation is over and the surgical wound is sutured up the blood, pus and other body fluids have no place to go so they pool or gather in certain areas of the body (usually in locations lower than the surgical site because of gravity and liquids flow downhill).

It takes a while for the ruptured blood vessels to heal. The length of time varies with the operation, the health of the patient, the extent of the surgery as well as other factors. As the healing continues the amount of drainage should diminish.

In many cases surgical drains are used to remove the fluid from the body. Here are some more sources relating to surgical drains and healing.

Surgical Drains Surgical Incisions Infections Scars

Your doctor is removing the fluid to reduce the risk of complications after surgery such as a seroma or fistula. If not removed, this fluid could become a source of infection. Removing the fluid may also make you more comfortable.

By the way, I have never heard of a domplasty before. I am not familiar with that type of operation to remove skin and fat. Do you mean dermoplasty? Did you have the operation to remove excess skin from weight loss?

I hope this answered your questions.

Best regards,

Tanner