But it can occur weeks, months or years following surgery or radiotherapy treatment. This condition is very rare following sentinel lymph node surgery. Lymphoedema is a swelling caused by a build-up of fluid in the tissues. LymphoedemaĪll patients having any surgery to their armpit are at increased risk of developing lymphoedema. Once your scar has healed it is important to regularly massage and moisturise your scar and surrounding area to reduce pain and tightness, flatten bulky scars to be softer and increase blood flow and hydration to the operated area.

It is important that you do the exercises given to you by your Macmillan Breast Care Nurse/ Clinic Nurse or the physiotherapist to ensure that your arm and shoulder movement is not restricted by this surgery. Most symptoms improve with time although there may be some residual long-term changes which your specialist will discuss with you. Some patients describe a burning sensation or pins and needles on the inside of the upper arm, and you may experience some slight numbness on the inside of your upper arm. It is usual to expect some soreness and swelling around the scar. This wound will be checked when you return to the breast clinic for the results of your surgery. Blue staining around the injection site, which may persist up to one yearįollowing your surgery you will have a small scar in your armpit, which will have dissolvable stitches and a small shower proof dressing or surgical glue.Blue discolouration of urine and faeces for 24-72 hours.In addition, you need to be aware of the following side effects that may occur which are normal: Most reactions usually occur whilst you are still in hospital and can be managed safely, should these occur. The blue dye that is used is not known to be harmful, but some allergic reactions have been reported in less than 1% of patients. You are not ‘’radioactive’’ following the injection of the radioactive tracer and the amount of radiation is less than the natural radioactivity you receive from the environment over a 3 month period. Are there any side effects from the surgery? The surgeon will also check that the correct node has been removed by using a special probe to detect the levels of radioactivity in the node once it is removed. This follows the route of the radioactive tracer and directs the surgeon to the sentinel nodes, which will be blue in colour. Whilst you are in theatre and under general anaesthetic, the surgeon will inject a blue dye into the breast area. Note it is not always necessary to have a scan before your surgery and will not affect your treatment. This is a simple scan, which takes around 10 minutes and is similar to having an X-ray done. This is not generally painful, and the amount of radio activity is minimal.Īround 1–2 hours after this injection, you may have a scan, which will identify the first node that takes up the radioactive tracer. How is surgery done?Īn appointment will be made for you to attend the hospital on the day of your planned breast operation (if appropriate), or the day before if surgery is early in the day.Īt least one hour before your surgery you will have a small amount of radio-active tracer injected into the area around the nipple. Some people may have more than one sentinel node and the surgeon will remove more than one if necessary. Large national and international trials have shown that removal and assessment of these nodes is a reliable method of detecting cancer cells in the lymph nodes and is now standard practice. The first lymph nodes that the breast drains into are called the sentinel nodes. The lymph nodes are examined to determine whether any cancer cells are present in them What is a sentinel node? Part of the treatment for breast cancer involves removal of some or all of the lymph nodes under the armpit (axilla). If after reading it you have any concerns or require further explanation, please discuss this with a member of the Macmillan Breast Care Nursing Team who has been caring for you. It is not intended to replace the discussion between you and your doctor/nurse but may act as a starting point for discussion. Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet. This leaflet has been produced to give you general information about this procedure. Need some help choosing a language? Please refer to Browsealoud Supported Voices and Languages. You can translate this page by using the headphones button (bottom left) and then select the globe to change the language of the page.

Sentinel node surgery