Keloid scars
Dr Bheem warns us about these complications. He calls it, “a pathological condition. Keloid is a very different thing, see, it is when we make a cut but the scar is bigger than the cut we have given. So keloid is like a tumour, it is a pathologically advanced tumour. So when you have scarring, during keloid it is much bigger, which makes it a pathological condition. So if you have keloid does not do Double Incision. So even when you are piercing your earlobes, it results in big ball-like things there.”
Hypertrophic scars
Dr Bheem calls, “Hypertrophic scars are just normal scars. So that’s what I am saying if you have the affordability then you can put a silicone sheet or use a fractional laser and then you will have really low scarring if you do all that. But keloid is a pathological condition, it is a disease, and it is your body’s tendency to do that. It has no relation to the surgeon or the surgery.”
What are other common complications?
“So according to me”, says Dr Bheem, “the most common complication is hematoma but it has only happened to two of my patients. So as sad as it is, hematoma happens and is a compilation so like there is a keyhole, there can be a lot of bleeding, so in it, we will have to reopen the entire area because in the keyhole you have just opened a small part. In a Double Incision, you have to check where the swelling is, and where it seems uneven. In it, we will have to open it for 3cms and take out the blood from there and then do a suture again.
The second complication is an infection, so some people get it. Most of them get it in their nipples because the dressing stays for 10 days. This is why I was telling you that you have to come after taking a bath and maintain proper hygiene, this reduces the chances of getting an infection.
And the third is not exactly a complication but a sequela, which as you asked earlier was hypertrophic scarring. So this is later, but in 2-2.5 months some people have broader scars and it is not really under our control- it depends on how someone’s body heals. So it is what we called a sequela which is a part, this happens to some people.
And lastly, in some patients, this happens. It has happened to 4-5 patients of mine. So one patient had lost an entire nipple on the left side. And the others had a 25-30 per cent nipple loss on one side. So this is also a complication of nipple loss because we are putting on the nipple as a graft and from the breast that you have taken out, you cut the nipple and put it on the chest. So like in normal skin grafting this happens that there is a chance to lose 5-10 per cent of the skin, so this is also like that. So 100 per cent has happened only once but 25-30 per cent graft loss happens sometimes, in 1-2 per cent operations.”