" clip " left behind after surgery

Alexis F

GayleMc said:

Thanks again for all your
Thanks again for all your input. I am sad about his situation, as I really did like my surgeon and I do realize they are human and humans make mistakes. I just cringe when I think about the fact that there may not have been a clean pathology after my lumpectomy. It's easy now to think maybe I should just be grateful that he did do a second check because everything came back ok, but I can't stop thinking about the what if? I don't mean to whine on and on about this, but I do think my decision to change surgeons is necessary for my own peace of mind. Thanks again for all the support.

Good decision! We will
Good decision! We will always support you.


Hugs, Lex

disneyfan2008

wow..CLIPS
I thought that was the whole idea of them..to pin point the spot and remove during surgery. Did the staff seemed surprised when they saw the clip while doing test? good luck..and I too would get 2nd opinion

GayleMc

disneyfan2008 said:

wow..CLIPS
I thought that was the whole idea of them..to pin point the spot and remove during surgery. Did the staff seemed surprised when they saw the clip while doing test? good luck..and I too would get 2nd opinion

Yes, the staff was surprised
Yes, the staff was surprised to see the clip still in there. It is meant to pinpoint the suspicious area and mark the tissue that should be removed. So, as close as I can figure, I walked around for a year, underwent chemo and rads and they probably didn't remove the right tissue, so the pathology wouldn't have been correct. I am seeing my onc tomorrow and another doc at the breast center for my post biopsy check up. The second, most recent biopsy came back ok and I am grateful but very distrusting and wary of this doctor right now. Thanks for your support.

maomaonie

GayleMc said:

Yes, the staff was surprised
Yes, the staff was surprised to see the clip still in there. It is meant to pinpoint the suspicious area and mark the tissue that should be removed. So, as close as I can figure, I walked around for a year, underwent chemo and rads and they probably didn't remove the right tissue, so the pathology wouldn't have been correct. I am seeing my onc tomorrow and another doc at the breast center for my post biopsy check up. The second, most recent biopsy came back ok and I am grateful but very distrusting and wary of this doctor right now. Thanks for your support.

core biopsy to remove clip

Dear GayleMc,

I hope you have been great since you wrote in this discussion borad in 2011.

I am in the similar situation. Two biopsy clips and 2 radioactive seeds before lumpectomy. The X-ray report says one of the biopsy clips was not found in the removed tissue, although the radioactive seeds were found.   On 9/1/2017 I had a post-operation mammo and the biopsy clip is still in my breast.   My surgeon does not recomend to remove the clip. He said he got all the tumor.   Another doctor, who is s radiologist, wants to perform ultra sound guided biopsy to remove the clip.  My radiation therapy is on hold until the clip issue is solved. 

Did you have an ultra sound guided biopsy (lay face up) to remove the clip or a mammogram guided biopsy ( lay face down and place the breast in a hole of the table)?

Thanks,

Maomaonie

 

Kats2

What is this clip made of??

GayleMc + those with clips,

To me, this clip "being left in" business is mind boggling! I too had a lumpectomy in 2012 and my tumor area was marked with probably a clip, but had a long thread attached to it which protruded out of my breast and could easily be seen by me and anyone else. It looked weird.

So the area was pinpointed for the surgeon by this procedure. When he was done with the lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy, he pulled on the thread and the clip slid OUT! I have nothing left behind in my breast and it feels fine.

The "clips being left in the breast" sounds archaic. What is the purpose of having a foreign object such as a clip remain in the breast? To show where the tumor was? And how can you really see the tumor area when a clip is blocking the view taken by a mammogram? There are more sophisticated ways of viewing this area.  I sure hope it's not made of metal!! Isn't there a chance of infection or inflammation occurring when something like this is left behind?

Maomaonie's radiologist knows that this clip shouldn't be there. I believe he's concerned that it might affect or interfere with the radiation treatment that she needs to have. He's smart. I'm glad he's pursuing having it removed.

I think the surgeon who did the lumpectomy knows that the clip shouldn't be there but is covering himself and saying that it's fine. He's not really explaining why it's fine, though, is he?( Probably doesn't want to admit that he forgot to take it out and doesn't want to deal with a possible lawsuit in the future, who knows?) 

All I know is that this is the first time I hear of clips being left permanently in a breast at lumpectomy time. I attend support groups in my area and NO ONE has ever reported having clips in their breast or breasts. My sister also had breast surgery, a quadrandectomy, which is an even a larger area to work on, and she never had any clips left in her either.

I live on the East Coast in MA.

Where are these clip procedures being done? What states? Seems I learn something new everyday. Maybe this whole thing could be Googled to see if this is a normal thing. . . having clips remain in a breast after a lumpectomy or even a biopsy.

GayleMc, you didn't mention whether you had a lumpectomy or not. I take it you did. From your last post you say that they're checking the "post biopsy" results.

I'm realizing now that what you wrote goes way back 5 years! What's happened with you since you wrore in Jan. 2011?? Hope all is well with you.

And Mamaonie, good luck in having that clip removed. It's the right decision.   Kats2

 

 

lajgriffin

I too had a bilateral mastectomy for DCIS with reconstruction from my abdominal tissue. Went for my 1 year followup appointment, the Dr felt a couple lumps she wanted to check. She sent me to ultrasound, still not sure, sent me to mammogram. Radiologist said, still not sure, but lets look again in 6 months. I head home, Radiologist calls on my home saying at closer look, there's an upper outer area that I recommend a biopsy AND We also found that the clip identifying the original cancer is still in there. WHAT?!?@?! I went back for my biopsy, spoke to my Dr's nurse practitioner. She said, the clips don't always stay where they are put and it could have "migrated." Migrated where? I was supposed to have no breast tissue left? I just didn't and still don't understand. The radiologist asked if I wanted her to remove the clip. if possible when she biopsied the suspicious area. Of course I said, "Get it out". She clearly told me this was a removal of clip, not a biopsy with surrounding tissue that would give clear margins..She place another clip at the site in case I wanted Dr to go for the surrounding area tissue. I don't get how the clip that was placed to ID location of the original cancer could be safely left. The nurse practitioner and Dr explained that they felt comfortable watching-mammogram every 6 months, or equally comfortable if I wanted to go back to surgery for area tissue removal. I couldn't decide what to do so Dr sent me for an MRI. She said if cancer cells had been left for the past year that we should see growth. the MRI did not show cancer. I still couldn't decide what to do.. Finally my husband and I decided. So tomorrow I go for my pre op to have the remaining tissue surrounding where the clip was found removed. I am bewildered. I wish someone, maybe a surgeon, Dr, anyone medical could help me understand how the clip could still be there but no cancer cells. Anyone?