Any operation comes with the risk of infection. This can often be addressed with tablet antibiotics. However, if it is a serious infection, admission to hospital and even further surgery may be required.

Although very rare, a patient may bleed during surgery and require a blood transfusion. Also, rare, a patient may develop a haematoma (blood clot) after surgery and require a return to the operating theatre to evacuate a haematoma (blood clot).

Surgical incisions may take longer to heal than expected and require a longer time with dressings. This can be a result of multiple reasons including poor nutrition and smoking.

Dr Mooney will discuss the expected scar with you. Please see the diagrams of the standard incisions with include an inverted “T” and a vertical incision. Usually, these incisions heal as a faint white line. However, abnormal scars can form which are called hypertrophic or keloid scars. These are prominent, red scars that are raised. They are rare unless you have a personal or family history of keloid scars.

There are always risks when having an anaesthetic. These are rare. They include heart or lung problems, allergic reactions and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots).

A certain amount of breast asymmetry is natural in most women before an operation. Asymmetry can occur after surgery which may result in further surgery.

There is a variable amount of change in nipple sensation that can occur. This often returns to normal after several months but can be long term. This is because the nipple is moved during the procedure to an ideal position. It can also occur if a nipple graft is required.

As the nipple is moved to an ideal position during the procedure, it is possible that it does not have a good enough blood supply and results in some or all of the nipple tissue dying. This is very rare.

It is unknown if a breast reduction will improve or reduce a woman’s ability to breast feed after surgery. If a woman has a nipple graft as part of her breast reduction, where the nipple is fully removed and replaced as a patch, it is unlikely that she would be able to breast feed.

Breast disease and cancer can occur independently of breast reduction surgery. All tissue that is removed during a breast reduction is sent to the lab for analysis. On rare occasions, an unexpected diagnosis of breast cancer is made.

Occasionally, patients can feel small lumps following breast reduction. These can be the result of fat necrosis where some fat cells have died in the breast tissue. This is because of the changes of blood supply to the tissue as it is moved. All lumps must be investigated to out-rule a breast cancer diagnosis.