Management of chylous leakage after axillary lymph node dissection in a patient undergoing breast surgery

A 71-year old woman who underwent a modified radical mastectomy for invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast, developed postoperative chylous leakage. Though conservative management was uneffective, a direct surgical repair led to good results. Because the morbidity of a reoperation to the superficial chest wall is low, timely surgical treatment is therefore strongly recommended in cases of high output chylous leakage following a mastectomy