Suggest Treatment For Rectus Sheath Hematoma Following An Abdominal Surgery

Posted on Wed, 4 Mar 2015

Question: I had a rectus sheath hematoma following an abdominal surgery a few months ago and I still feel sore/swollen in the area that it happened. I can't seem to find much info on this topic and was wondering how long it takes the body to heal from this surgery and how long does it take for the body to reabsorb any residual blood left inside?
Thanks

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Large hematoma can stay in soft tissues for months.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

It all depends how large was the hematoma. If it was really large, can stay in soft tissues for months and without drainage wont disappear. There is also a risk that such hematoma can get infected and turn into an abscess.

If the sore/swollen area is close to the incision scar, stitches left in soft tissues can also cause such symptoms. Please note that when stitching abdomen, we put 3 or 4 layers of stitches. Only one is removed (skin stitches). Two layers of stitches are absorabable. And there is always one layer of non-absorbable stitches. Some patients can get swelling, pain and wound discharge due to such stitches.

I suggest you to consult your surgeon. Soft tissues ultrasound should be done to see what is causing the problem.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar