Benefits of Drain-Free Top Surgery for Trans Man & Non Binary!
For trans men and nonbinary individuals, top surgery is often the first step in their transition process.
Especially since there is no one-year hormone requirement needed!
Making this an ideal surgery to help you:
decrease gender dysphoria
feel more congruent with your body
create a desired chest appearance
increase confidence
reduce isolation
and improve social interactions, especially outdoors, where wearing no shirt is an option
There are many mastectomy options available, and if you are interested, I recommend reading 6 Main Mastectomy Options for Trans Chest Surgery Including Pros & Cons!
With all the options listed, the main concern for most trans men and nonbinary individuals is:
“Will I have drains after my top surgery?”
A valid concern is given that most common mastectomy procedures, such as a double incision or peri-areolar top surgery, often require drains.
And drains aren’t fun to deal with. Because not only will you leave the hospital or clinic with drains, but you will need to empty your drains periodically throughout the day for up to a week.
Not to mention the pain involved when the time comes to remove them!
For these reasons, many covet finding a surgeon who doesn’t use the drains. Almost an impossible task if you ask me!
With the exception of Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, who performs a drain-free double-incision top surgery almost every single day with a very low revision rate.
But what are the exact benefits of drain-free top surgery over other techniques utilizing drains?
A recent research study, “Drain-Free Technique for Female to Male Gender Confirmation Chest Surgery Decreases Morbidity- Outcomes from 214 Consecutive Mastectomies,” concluded:
gender confirmation surgery using drain-free techniques with progressive tension sutures decreases the incidence of hematoma (Gallagher, S., Rahmani, F., and Duquette, S., 2018)
decreases the need for acute re-operation (Gallagher et al., 2018)
may also shorten the hospital stay (Gallagher et al., 2018)
and decreases the need for revision surgeries (Gallagher et al., 2018)
In addition to the conclusion of this study, the drain-free technique offers the benefits of reduced recovery time since there is no need to drain and care for drains.
Not to mention the avoidance of pain when you have to go back to the hospital for drain removal.
Given that the drain-free technique has a lower complication risk, especially with hematoma, and a quicker recovery rate, why aren’t more surgeons practicing this method?
To get an answer, I reached out to Dr. Gallagher, given her broad experience with the drain-free technique.
Here is what she had to say:
“I think in the future, given it’s advantages more surgeons will switch over to the drain-free technique, but they have to be able to do the progressive tension suturing technique. There’s a learning curve with that but as it becomes more popular, I expect more surgeons will pick it up.”
I really hope this future is around the corner as more and more individuals seek the top surgery they need, and I hope more gender-affirming surgeons will enhance their tool kit utilizing the drain-free technique.
If you are considering top surgery, keep in mind that working with a surgeon specializing in gender-affirming surgery is a must, as they deliver the results you are looking for.
If you are looking for a skilled surgeon, I recommend following 11 Tips on How to Choose a Gender Affirming Surgeon.
And if you are interested in undergoing drain-free top surgery, there is Dr. Gallagher in Florida and, as far as I am aware, Dr. Dulin and Dr. Harris in Texas.
