Breast Reduction Risks and Complications: What ASPS Lists

From sensation changes to the breastfeeding question, here is the full risk picture for breast reduction surgery, per ASPS's own patient safety guidance.

What ASPS lists as the recognized risks

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) publishes a specific list of risks and safety considerations for breast reduction surgery, and it's worth going through in full rather than assuming the procedure is purely cosmetic and low-stakes. On the sensory and structural side, ASPS lists changes in nipple or breast sensation — which may be temporary or permanent — potential partial or total loss of the nipple and areola (a rarer but more serious risk tied to blood supply to the tissue), and breast asymmetry or contour irregularities. On wound healing, ASPS lists poor wound healing, unfavorable scarring, fat necrosis (death of fatty tissue within the breast), fluid accumulation, and skin discoloration or bruising.

General surgical risks that apply here too

Because breast reduction is major surgery, ASPS also lists the same category of general surgical risks that apply broadly: risks from anesthesia itself, bleeding, blood clots including deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications, infection, and persistent pain. Nerve, blood vessel, and muscle damage are also listed, along with the possibility of an allergic reaction to suture material or other products used during surgery, and excessive firmness in the healed breast tissue. ASPS's patient materials list these categories of risk but do not publish specific percentage rates for each one — which is worth keeping in mind if a specific clinic quotes you a precise complication rate, since that figure would be that clinic's own reported outcomes data, not an industry-wide statistic, and it's fair to ask how it was measured and over what time period.

The breastfeeding question specifically

Because breast reduction is often considered by women who haven't finished having children, the effect on future breastfeeding deserves its own section. ASPS states plainly that breast reduction surgery "may limit a woman's ability to breast feed, although most women can still breast feed" afterward. The specific surgical technique matters here — some techniques keep the nipple and areola attached to their original milk ducts, nerve supply, and blood vessels throughout ("pedicle" techniques), which generally preserves more breastfeeding potential than techniques where the nipple is fully detached and reattached as a free graft. If future breastfeeding is a priority for you, raise it explicitly at consultation and ask which technique your surgeon plans to use and why.

Revision surgery and firmness

ASPS also lists the possible need for revision surgery among breast reduction's recognized risks — whether due to asymmetry, unsatisfactory scarring, or a result that shifts as tissue settles over the following months. Excessive firmness in the reduced breast tissue is listed separately as its own possible long-term outcome, distinct from capsular contracture (which applies specifically to implants, not reduction surgery).

When to seek prompt care after surgery

Contact your surgical team promptly for signs of infection (fever, spreading redness, unusual drainage), sudden or worsening pain, a change in nipple color suggesting compromised blood supply, or symptoms of a blood clot such as calf swelling, warmth, or sudden shortness of breath.

For a week-by-week look at what recovery typically involves, see our breast reduction recovery timeline, and for typical procedure costs, our breast reduction cost guide. Surgeons in Bangalore and Hyderabad should be able to walk you through which technique they'd use and how it affects sensation and breastfeeding odds in your specific case.