Mastectomy

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Female breast

Breast removal surgery; Subcutaneous mastectomy; Total mastectomy; Simple mastectomy; Modified radical mastectomy

Risks for any surgery are:

• Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
• Blood loss
• Breathing problems
• Infection, including in the surgical wound, lungs (pneumonia), bladder, or kidney
• Heart attack or stroke during surgery
• Reactions to medications

Scabbing, blistering, or skin loss along the edge of the surgical cut may occur.

Risks when more invasive surgery, such as a radical mastectomy, is done are:

• Shoulder pain and stiffness. You may also feel pins and needles where the breast used to be and underneath the arm.
• Swelling of the arm (called lymphedema) on the same side as the breast that is removed. This swelling is not common, but it can be an ongoing problem.
• Damage to nerves that go to the muscles of the arm, back, and chest wall.

Review Date: 01/28/2011
Reviewed By: Debra G. Wechter, MD, FACS, General Surgery practice specializing in breast cancer, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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