Ultrasound-guided scraping of fibrous capsule plus bilayered negative pressure wound therapy for treatment of refractory postmastectomy seroma.

Introduction: Seroma is a frequent complication of breast cancer surgery. Treatment of prolonged or refractory seroma remains a clinical challenge. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a novel approach for refractory seroma treatment; the method combines minimally invasive scraping for fibrous capsule removal and self-designed bilayered negative pressure wound therapy (b-NPWT) to achieve favorable wound healing.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with refractory seroma received ultrasound-guided scraping of fibrous capsule around the refractory seroma, and then a bilayered NPWT system simultaneously allowing for fluid drainage and dynamic topical pressure was manually implemented immediately. The time of NPWT application and wound healing was recorded, and pathological examination was conducted for the removed fibrous tissues.

Results: Removal of the fibrous capsule was securely achieved by minimally invasive scraping through a 1.5-cm incision guided with ultrasound scanning. All refractory seromas in the 24 patients healed uneventfully after an average application of NPWT for 7.2±3.3 days without recurrence during the 3-12 months of follow-up. Biopsy of the removed fibrous tissue demonstrated that single-layered endothelial cells stained with CD31, D2-40, and Ki-67 existed both on the surface of and inside the fibrous tissue.

Conclusions: The combination of fibrous capsule removal by ultrasound-guided scraping with successive bilayered NPWT therapy is effective and minimally invasive for promoting wound healing of refractory postmastectomy seroma.