I just thought I would post this since all sorts of posts have come up
recently regarding breast surgery.

By some coincidence, alignment of the stars or the reappearance of el
nino, I saw three mothers at the clinic this week who are pregnant again
asking how to prevent breast abscesses.  They had all had this problem
with the first child.

Every one of them (plus a woman who had had an open biopsy) had had an
incision on the breast which was circumferential (not along skin lines).
One of them had a scar almost 10 cm (4 inches) long.  Why, when the
books urge incisions along skin lines, are the surgeons doing this?
Rhetorical question, but if anyone has a thought...  Now that I think of
it, surely amongst 1800 people on Lactnet, one of us, or one of our
spouses is a surgeon.  Maybe they could explain?

I think though, if we are in a position of being these mothers'
advocates, we must tell them that if they are getting breast surgery,
they should let the surgeon know that the incision should be, if
possible, along skin lines.

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC