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Mastectomy - Risks

Alternative Names

Breast removal surgery; Subcutaneous mastectomy; Total mastectomy; Simple mastectomy; Modified radical mastectomy

Risks:

Risks for any surgery are:

Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
Breathing problems
Infection, including in the surgical wound, lungs (pneumonia), bladder, or kidney
Blood loss
Heart attack or stroke during surgery
Reactions to medications

The risks for breast removal are:

Skin loss or long-term wounds on the chest wall
Bleeding into the area where the breast used to be. Sometimes a second operation is needed to control bleeding.

Risks when you have lymph nodes removed during surgery are:

Shoulder pain and stiffness occur in most women. Some may have severe stabbing or burning pain. They may also feel pins and needles where the breast used to be and underneath their arm.
Swelling of the arm (called lymphedema) on the same side as the breast that is removed. This swelling is not common, but it can be an ongoing problem.
Damage to nerves. This may cause numbing on the inside of the arm or weakness in muscles of the back and chest wall.

There are also risks related to breast reconstructive surgery.

Female Breast

Mastectomy - series

Breast reconstruction - series

Reviewed last on: 2/26/2009
James Lee, M.D., Department of Surgery, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY. Review Provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

References

Robson M and Offit K. Clinical practice. Management of an inherited predisposition to breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(2): 154-62.

Khatcheressian JL, Wolff AC, Smith TJ, Grunfeld E, Muss HB, Vogel VG, et al.American Society of Clinical Oncology 2006 update of the breast cancer follow-up and management guidelines in the adjuvant setting. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Nov 1;24(31):5091-7. Epub 2006 Oct 10.

Abeloff MD, Wolff AC, Weber BL, Zaks TZ, Sacchini V, McCormick B. Cancer of the breast. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKena WG, eds. Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 95.

Iglehart JD, Smith BL. Diseases of the breast. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 34.

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