Seroma prevention using fibrin glue in a rat mastectomy model

W. H. Lindsey, T. M. Masterson, W. D. Spotnitz, M. C. Wilhelm and R. F. Morgan
Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908.

Seromas are a frequent complication of mastectomy (17% to 53%) in humans and are correlated to skin flap elevation, lymphovascular interruption, and drainage into surgically created potential spaces. The use of intraoperative topical fibrin glue to reduce morbidity in rats undergoing radical mastectomies has been evaluated. A model consistently producing seromas was developed by radical mastectomy and lymphadenectomy in the Sprague-Dawley rat. A fibrin glue application procedure was tested using this model. The double-blinded protocol called for spray application of saline or fibrin glue to mastectomy wounds followed by sequential inspection and necropsy on postoperative days 5, 8, 11, and 14. Topical fibrin glue was shown to be statistically significant in decreasing the presentation of seromas following a radical mastectomy in the Sprague-Dawley rat.