Lymphatic Drainage in the Breast Before and Up to Five Years After a Reduction Mammaplasty

The aim of this study was to investigate lymph circulation before and after breast reduction mammaplasty in different parts of the breast and with two different carriers of the radiopharmaceutical. Nine patients with breast hypertrophy planned for bilateral breast reduction mammaplasty were prospectively included in the study. The breast operation procedure was decided on intraoperatively. The regional lymph circulation in the breast was measured preoperatively by Technetium (99mTc) clearance in 4 different locations in each breast 1, 2 and 3 hours after injection. The procedure was repeated at one month and in six of the nine women also five years postoperatively with injection sites chosen to correspond to the preoperative location of that breast pedicle. Two different types of carriers of the radiopharmaceutical were tested, dextran in the right and nanocoll in the left breast. Dextran had a much more rapid clearance than nanocoll. There was no significant regional difference in lymph drainage up to five years after the mammaplasty, independent of dextran or nanocoll as being the carrier of the radiopharmaceutical.