Treat infection early by seeing your GP promptly for antibiotics.Clean any bites or scratches immediately to avoid infection.Symptoms include swelling, a feeling of heaviness or tightness, discomfort, dryness of skin and reduced movement. Lymphoedema is a build up of tissue fluid within the soft tissues of the leg. Offensive odour from the wound dressings.High temperature (unconnected to cold or flu or another cause).Do not walk barefooted and wear comfortable shoes. Clean any wound carefully and watch for any early signs of infection such as swelling, redness and pain. Long term care of leg – take extra care to avoid insect bites, scratches or other trauma to the leg. It is advisable to check with your insurance company before driving.Įveryday activities - you will need help at home for about 4 weeks with activities such as cooking, laundry and housework. For most people this is about 4 weeks post surgery. Please allow the nursing staff to help you initially, as you may be unsteady on your feet.ĭriving - you will be able to start driving when you feel that you can safely control a motor vehicle. Mobilization - I encourage you to get out of bed as soon as you feel able to do so – usually the day after surgery. This is done by using a small needle, fortunately this area is usually has reduced sensation and is not especially painful. Seroma - If a collection of fluid (seroma) develops after the drains come out then please call my secretary for a time to have the fluid drained away. Nursing staff will teach you how to look after them and district nurses will come to your house to monitor the drainage and change bottles if needed. Some times you will go home with the drains in place. The tape on your wound (Micropore) should be patted dry or dried with a hair dryer on cool (to avoid burns).ĭrains - are left in place until they drain less than 40 mls per day. Wound care - you may shower after 48 hours and remove the outer dressing (Nurses will assist with this). Gradually return to normal activities over 4-6 weeks. Tiredness - you will feel rather tired after the operation and for the next few weeks. Recurrence of cancer After surgery & when you go home Need for another operation - often for infection or bleeding Seroma (collection of fluid within wound) – a drain will remove fluid initially but if the seroma persists it may require drainage via a small needleĭVT (deep vein thrombosis) or PE (pulmonary embolism) – you will have compression stockings to wear and injections into the tummy to thin the blood Numbness on the front of the leg – often permanent After the wound is healed, massage of the wound with a simple hypoallergenic cream will help to soften the scar and regain normal sensation. Scar – after a few months the scar may become tight and red, this usually settles within 12-18 months. Infection – often seen by redness or increasing tenderness around the wound More than 50% of patients will have problems with infection, wound healing or collection of fluid. You may have a catheter (a tube that goes up the urethra into the bladder) to drain urine for the first few days. These results will be available after a few weeks. The drains siphon off excess fluid and may remain for many weeks until the amount of fluid produced gradually reduces.Īll the tissue that is removed is sent for analysis. The wound is sutured with dissolving sutures and one or two drains are left in place. An incision is made in the groin all the lymph nodes and surrounding fatty tissue are removed. The operation takes about 3 hours plus time to have the anaesthetic. What is the technique for groin dissection?Ī general anaesthetic (GA) is required. This prevents the cancer from recurring within the groin and may stop the cancer from spreading elsewhere. Groin dissection is performed to remove all the lymph nodes that may have cancer within them. Loss of the lymph nodes and swelling make the leg more susceptible to infection. Removal of the lymph nodes can cause a build up of fluid at the site of the wound (a seroma) or within the whole limb (lymphoedema). Groups of lymph nodes are found in the neck, axilla (armpit), groin, chest and abdomen. Lymph nodes filter bacteria and cancer cells from tissue fluid. Groin dissection is a surgical procedure to remove lymph nodes from the groin.
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