>>>Dr. Harness: With any surgical procedure there are potential complications and I have
previously discussed some of the complications associated with doing a mastectomy, doing
a mastectomy with reconstruction, doing lumpectomy and so one of the interesting things that
comes up when we make an incision here in the armpit or medically the axillary region,
patients have a couple of things happen.
One is they can lose sensation along the inner aspect of the arm and the second thing that
can happen is they could have burning pain in that area and the answer is yes.
With any lymph node testing procedure or removal of the lymph nodes, there are sensory nerves,
big medical word, intercoastal brachialis sensory nerves, little fine nerves that run
right though the axillary region here, right underneath the skin of the armpit, and give
us a sensational on the inner aspect of the arm.
Often during removal of the lymph nodes, these little fine branches are tiny sensory nerves
end up being caught in order to successfully remove the lymph nodes so the side effect
of that then is numbness that only inner aspect of the arm.
Another interesting side effect from removing lymph nodes is developing what is called sort
of like a banjo string, here on the inner aspect of the arm and that is from the lymphatic
channel here in the arm or channels becoming thrombosed, big word, is that about?
In other words being, being clouded off in a sense just like a vein or artery could be
but the other thing that happen occasionally not very often is for patients to have burning
pain in this area.
So just from operating around that sensory nerve, the two branches of a sensory nerve
in this area, and even what I am trying to do is preserve the nerves if I can just bagging
around or operating around that area can irritate the nerves and cause a burning sensation.
Sometimes the division of the nerve, short-term, can cause a burning sensation.
If that sensation is ongoing and sort of unrelenting, if you will, than a very unusual thing could
have happened and that is enclosing this incision here, the little nerve branch is actually
entrapped or strangulated by a suture that the surgeon used to closed up the skin and
so if that happens to be the case clearly, you need to get back to your surgeon, see
if you have what is called nerve entrapment as a possible explanation for burning pain.
So please remember everything we do in surgery has benefits, and has a downside.
There are always potential complications.
The one thing patients complain about a lot but then it goes away some of the numbness
after the lymph node surgery in the armpit area.
Generally all these things should get better with tincture of time.
*****
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