Mastectomy Wound Packing

A mastectomy is the surgical removal of breast tissue (sometimes the entire breast) to treat a medical condition, usually cancer. For women, a mastectomy can be a frightening experience, since the breasts are so closely tied to a woman's self-esteem. Being prepared to take care of the wound packing may help women feel like they have more control over the procedure and therefore may lessen anxiety.

Hygiene

• A mastectomy requires that the doctor make incisions into the body to remove the breast tissue. Any time that an incision is made into body tissue, the risk of infection goes up. When you pack your dressing, wash your hands thoroughly with warm soapy water. This will prevent dirt, bacteria and other pathogens that could make you sick from getting on the dressing material and being transferred into your wound.

Frequency

• Make it a goal to keep the dressing as dry as possible. Bacteria thrive in damp, wet conditions, so by changing the dressing as soon as you notice it is damp, you will reduce the odds that you will get an infection. A dry dressing also will prevent new skin cells from being rubbed off as easily, which means that you will heal faster. Your doctor will remove your dressing for the first time at your post-surgery follow up, but after that, you may remove it yourself as needed. Some weeping of fluid from the wound is normal, but if the packing becomes saturated very quickly, alert your doctor.

Tube Packing

• Your doctor will have a drain put into the area where the breast tissue was removed to get rid of extra fluid that may build up. Fluid may leak from the area around the tube (again, weeping is normal), so place a little more packing around the tube so that the entire dressing doesn't become saturated as quickly.

Thickness

• The area on which the doctor performed surgery will be tender after the mastectomy. It is fine to pack a little extra padding over the wound to maximize comfort if needed. Just don't use so much that you lose the ability to ascertain quickly whether the padding directly against the wound is wet enough to require a dressing change.

Overgarments

• When you are able to dress after surgery, opt for a loose fitting, cotton top. Cotton camisoles or tank tops that have a built-in bra are good to wear because they are not as tight as regular bras and therefore won't press the dressing into your wound harshly.