Hello Lynda,
Sorry to hear about your DIEP breast reconstruction recovery. If you have a pseudobursa surgery is likely going to be the most definitive treatment. Time, massage, and PT may help but in my experience, significant resolution of the symptoms associated with a pseudobursa is often only accomplished by surgical removal. I do not know if the presence of a pseudobursa would also result in some of the numbness that you have described. Sometimes, the abdominal closure part of the DIEP flap can result in damage to nerves to the front of the thigh. Its a little unusual with the typical placement of the incision of a diep flap dissection but it is possible. Since the abdominal component of your surgery was part of your breast cancer reconstruction, exploration and repair of whatever is the cause of your abdominal symptoms should be covered by your insurance carrier. I do not know what type of insurance you have or whether you have out of network benefits, but if needed my office may be able to help you pre-authorize any revision surgery you may need if you choose to do so.
All the best,
Dr. Remus Repta
Q: Anonymous Lynda said…
Dr. Repta,
I had a double mastectomy with immediate combined DIEP/SGAP reconstruction two years ago. After a very active left hip drain was removed six weeks later, the incision developed a seroma that I had drained a couple times, approximately three months following the procedure, but I have always felt a numbness and fullness from my hip incision and down my outer hip/upper leg area, even after my revision surgery. I am confident it is a pseudobursa and it is beginning to pull on my hip joint and is becoming somewhat restrictive, but I dread undergoing another surgery. Will active tissue release or some form of PT that breaks up the scar tissue be effective, or is the only real fix to have it surgically removed?
