Use of abdominal quilting sutures for seroma prevention in TRAM flap reconstruction: a prospective, controlled trial

This study is designed to evaluate the effect of abdominal quilting sutures on the incidence of abdominal seroma formation in patients undergoing pedicled transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap reconstruction. It is theorized that the use of such sutures during closure of abdominal flaps will collapse dead space, thus preventing abdominal seroma formation. A total of 71 consecutive patients undergoing pedicled TRAM flap breast reconstruction were randomly assigned to receive abdominal quilting sutures or to undergo a standard abdominal closure. Primary outcome measures included: daily drain output for the first 3 postoperative days, time to drain removal, and seroma formation. Drain output per day decreased with the use of abdominal quilting sutures; however, the time to drain removal was not significantly affected. Most importantly, there was no significant decrease in the incidence of seroma formation with the use of abdominal quilting sutures in this series.