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Saturday, October 10, 2009 Regret Surgery asks

Q: If mammogram and ultrasound are normal, why would I need excision of breast lump?

I had a lump about one and one-half inches above areola. The mammogram and ultrasound report said the breast was normal. The surgeon said to have an excision. It has been a month since the surgery and the area is still painful. Was this surgery unnecessary?

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Phyllis Johnson, Health Guide
10/11/09 7:27am

I don't understand how a mammogram and ultrasound that show a lump would be considered normal.  It is important to find out whether a lump is benign or cancerous.  Fortunately, most lumps do turn out to be benign, but so far there is no way to tell for sure from a mammogram.  It may have been possible to get the same information from a fine needle aspiration, which would have been less invasive.  But I'm not your doctor, and I don't know the size and position of the lump.  If your doctor suggested an excisional biopsy, he probably had a good reason to think that it would be the most effective way to find out if you had breast cancer.  Call the doctor back about the pain; after a month you should be healed.

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By Regret Surgery— Last Modified: 12/17/10, First Published: 10/10/09