Thursday, July 7, 2016

All You Need To Know About Surgical Drain Management

By Brenda Morris


Surgical drains refer to a tube that is positioned close to an incision subsequent to surgical operations. The reason for having the drains is to get rid of blood and pus as well as other fluids to prevent their accumulation. The type of drainage systems inserted is based on the needs by a patient, surgery type, the kind of wound, the amount of drainage expected and surgeon preferences. Nonetheless, surgical drain management is important for infection control.

For quite some time, the use of drains in diverse operations has aimed at good intentions. Generally, the intention has been to decompress fluids or air from surgical areas. These drains help in the prevention of fluids, dead space, and air accumulation and for characterizing the fluid, for instance detecting anastomotic leakage early enough.

There are different kinds of surgical drains. The first is either open drains or closed drains. Open drains are made up of corrugated rubber or plastic sheets and drains into a gauze pad or a stoma bag. These open drains add to the likelihood contracting an infection. Conversely, closed drains consist of tubes that empty to a bag or a bottle. Examples of such drains include chest, abdominal and orthopedic drains. Closed drains cut down the likelihood of contracting infections.

Active or passive drains is another kind of the surgical drains. An active drain is commonly maintained by means of a suction that will be either of high or of low pressure. On the other hand, passive drains have no suction and often work in accordance to the difference in pressure that is between the cavities of the body and the external environment.

Drains can as well be Silastic drains or rubber drains. A Silastic drain induces less reaction in the tissues because they are inert. On the other hand, a rubber drain stimulates deep tissue reactions and may allow tracts to appear in several cases.

Management of drains is usually governed by the purpose as well as the location of the drain. Therefore, preferences and instructions of the surgeon should be followed. The drain must remain secured since dislodgment can occur when transferring the patient. Such dislodgement may increase irritation and risk of infection. At the same time, changes in volume and the character of the fluid should be monitored. This is in order to identify arising complications that can result in leaking blood or fluid, especially pancreatic or bile secretions. Also, fluid loss should be measured to help in the intravenous replacement of lost fluids.

The drains are taken off when drainage moves below 25 ml in a day or has completely stopped. The drains could be shortened as well by gradually removing them and giving room for a slow healing of the area. Discomforts can be felt when pulling out the drains hence pain relievers are needed prior to removal of the drains.

After the drains have been taken off, some dry dressing should be placed on the site. Some drainage will still come out of the site until the complete healing of the wound has taken place. Drains left over a long period can be hard to take off while early removals lower possibilities of complications particularly infections.




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