THR Any experience with bloody seromas?

[Ex Golfer]

Any experience out there with bloody seromas? My OS drained quite a bit of serum fluid tinged with blood from beneath my incision 3/20 at my post-op appointment. The incision itself was healing well so he removed the staples and attached paper strips. There was no sign of infection but it has been painful to put my weight on that side. As a result I am still using the walker.

I have a follow up appointment with him this afternoon. The fluid has collected under the incision since then so I think it will be aspirated again. I sure hope this will not be an ongoing experience. He told me he has had six patients that developed this condition over the years of thousands of surgeries. The lateral approach was used.

@Krista I wanted to let you know that my sleeping has improved a great deal. Between placing pillows under my knees when on my back and returning to my regular bed (which was too high for me to climb up on at first) I am enjoying restful sleep again. Ahh....however it seems strange that I cannot sleep comfortably on my side yet as that is my preferred sleeping position.

 

[Krista]

I'm so glad to hear you are sleeping better, @Ex Golfer! You are a bit over 2 weeks out, and hardly anyone is comfortable sleeping on their side at that point. Even at 6 weeks and beyond, some cannot do it, even if they were confirmed side-sleepers pre-op. It took me 12 weeks after my THR, and 10 weeks after my gluteus medius repair surgery to be able to regularly sleep the whole night on my non-surgical side. And I have been exclusively side-sleeping for as long as I can remember (40 years?). I cannot sleep on the surgical side for longer than an hour or so.

 

[Ex Golfer]

My OS drained a large amount of bloody serum fluid from beneath my incision at my post-op appointment 3/20. The incision itself was healing nicely and there was no sign of infection or bruising. The staples were also removed. He applied a compression bandage and asked me to wear compression shorts and ice it. The antero-lateral approach was used during surgery 3/7.

The serum fluid recollected under my incision area so my OS drained it again today. Again, it was quite swollen and uncomfortable making it painful to put my weight on that side. He said the yoga capris I have been wearing are not providing enough compression so I have ordered some firm Spanx compression shorts from Amazon. There appears to be no infection but he put me on an antibiotic Cephalexin 500mg for 10 days to be on the safe side. I have a follow up appointment to see him Monday. If this continues he said I may need to have the area surgically drained in the hospital.

What can you tell me about situations like this? It doesn't seem that serious but I'm concerned...

 

[KarriB]

My dad had a seroma that opened as he was washing, the fluid was pink. We went to the ER that am where they checked for infection, all was good there. By evening it had closed itself but his OS kept him over night for observation. He didn't wear any compression clothing at all and it never returned.

 

[Jamie]

@Ex Golfer ... you may notice that I've merged your newest thread in the recovery forum with your original recovery thread. We need to keep all your updates and concerns in this thread as it's so much easier to go back and review the information if needed to give you a good response. You know, we'll always change the thread title for you if you like. All you have to do is post what you want for a new title and one of the staff will get that done quickly. Sometimes that's a good idea if you want to highlight a new issue. Leaving that second thread going may have resulted in duplicate responses for you or (even worse) some responses that would be lost if we tried to go back and review old posts. So please do continue to post here. You can also tag @Josephine or other staff members if you want a faster response to your questions.

 

[Ex Golfer]

Thank you for the information @KarriB. The fluid aspirated from mine was dark pink. I wish it would be done and never return but it feels like the fluid is reaccumulating again. I'll know for sure later today after removing this pressure bandage.

I apologize for creating a new thread @Jamie. I am aware that we should limit ourselves to one thread in recovery. When I posted the update at the bottom of my thread it did not show up in the public area of hip recovery even though I retitled it. How do I let the staff know when I want to highlight an issue? That is why I ended up posting a new one there. I definitely need to learn how to use the site better. Also my surgery date is listed as March 8 when it was actually March 7.

@Josephine, I would appreciate hearing from you regarding the seroma I am dealing with.

Thank all of you for providing your expertise and encouragement to us as we journey through recovery from these joint replacements. Even though each individuals experience differs, we all benefit from your care and concern.

 

[KarriB]

Just tag a staff member and we'll work on changing the title for you.

 

[Jaycey]

I changed your signature date for you @Ex Golfer . Josephine should be along soon to comment or advise.

 

[Josephine]

Sorry, @Ex Golfer, I always like to admit when something is outside my sphere of expertise and this is one of them.

 

[Ex Golfer]

Thank you for the correction @Jaycey.

Thanks anyway @Josephine for taking a look and getting back to me. I will keep you updated.

 

[Jamie]

You're doing just fine working with the site. There are so many little tricks to a big forum like this, it can take a while to uncover them all, so don't worry.

When you have something specific you want highlighted and answers as fast as possible, the best thing to do is post the concerns in your recovery thread along with whatever change you'd like in the thread title. You can tag a staff member or two if you like, but it will get seen and dealt with quickly as the staff reviews new posts every day.