Breast conservation surgery may be performed as an outpatient procedure or may require an overnight stay. Patients are generally hospitalized for 2-5 days following a modified radical mastectomy. The trend towards shorter hospital stays for these procedures means that many patients will be discharged with a surgical drain in place. Impaired shoulder mobility may occur if exercises are not begun soon after surgery. Exercises help reduce lymphedema and prevent limitation of joint motion.
Patients start with limited exercises of the lower arm, such as squeezing a rubber ball.
These begin as soon as the surgeon decides that the wound is healing adequately, often within 24 hours of surgery. Should exercises may begin seven days after surgery or when surgical drains are removed. The specific exercises the surgeon orders may vary with the surgical procedure. Other operative complications include seromas, hematomas, nerve injury, and lymphedema. A seroma is the accumulation of serous or serosanguinous fluid in the dead space of the axillary fossa or chest wall.