What is Surgical Drain Home Care

Surgical drains are used to remove extra fluid that normally builds up in a surgical wound after surgery. A surgical drain helps to heal a surgical wound. Different kinds of surgical drains include:

• Active drains. These drains use suction to pull drainage away from the surgical wound. Drainage flows through a tube to a container outside of the body. It is important to keep the bulb or the drainage container flat (compressed) at all times, except while you empty it. Flattening the bulb or container creates suction. The two most common types of active drains are bulb drains and Hemovac drains.
• Passive drains. These drains allow fluid to drain naturally, by gravity. Drainage flows through a tube to a bandage (dressing) or a container outside of the body. Passive drains do not need to be emptied. The most common type of passive drain is the Penrose drain.

A drain is placed during surgery. Immediately after surgery, drainage is usually bright red and a little thicker than water. The drainage may gradually turn yellow or pink and become thinner. It is likely that your health care provider will remove the drain when the drainage stops or when the amount decreases to 1–2 Tbsp (15–30 mL) during a 24-hour period.

How to care for your surgical drain

It is important to care for your drain to prevent infection. If your drain is placed at your back, or any other hard-to-reach area, ask another person to assist you in performing the following steps:

• Keep the skin around the drain dry and covered with a dressing at all times.
• Check your drain area every day for signs of infection. Check for:
  • More redness, swelling, or pain.
  • Pus or a bad smell.
  • Cloudy drainage.

Follow instructions from your health care provider about how to take care of your drain and how to change your dressing. Change your dressing at least one time every day. Change it more often if needed to keep the dressing dry. Make sure you:

1. Gather your supplies, including:
   1. Tape.
   1. Germ-free cleaning solution (sterile saline).
   1. Split gauze drain sponge: 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm).
   1. Gauze square: 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm).
2. Wash your hands with soap and water before you change your dressing. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer.
3. Remove the old dressing. Avoid using scissors to do that.
4. Use sterile saline to clean your skin around the drain.
5. Place the tube through the slit in a drain sponge. Place the drain sponge so that it covers your wound.
6. Place the gauze square or another drain sponge on top of the drain sponge that is on the wound. Make sure the tube is between those layers.
7. Tape the dressing to your skin.
8. If you have an active bulb or Hemovac drain, tape the drainage tube to your skin 1–2 inches (2.5–5 cm) below the place where the tube enters your body. Taping keeps the tube from pulling on any stitches (sutures) that you have.
9. Wash your hands with soap and water.
10. Write down the color of your drainage and how often you change your dressing.

How to empty your active bulb or Hemovac drain

1. Make sure that you have a measuring cup that you can empty your drainage into.
2. Wash your hands with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer.
3. Gently move your fingers down the tube while squeezing very lightly. This is called stripping the tube. This clears any drainage, clots, or tissue from the tube.
   1. Do not pull on the tube.
   1. You may need to strip the tube several times every day to keep the tube clear.
4. Open the bulb cap or the drain plug. Do not touch the inside of the cap or the bottom of the plug.
5. Empty all of the drainage into the measuring cup.
6. Compress the bulb or the container and replace the cap or the plug. To compress the bulb or the container, squeeze it firmly in the middle while you close the cap or plug the container.
7. Write down the amount of drainage that you have in each 24-hour period. If you have less than 2 Tbsp (30 mL) of drainage during 24 hours, contact your health care provider.
8. Flush the drainage down the toilet.
9. Wash your hands with soap and water.

Contact a health care provider if:

• You have more redness, swelling, or pain around your drain area.
• The amount of drainage that you have is increasing instead of decreasing.
• You have pus or a bad smell coming from your drain area.
• You have a fever.
• You have drainage that is cloudy.
• There is a sudden stop or a sudden decrease in the amount of drainage that you have.
• Your tube falls out.
• Your active drain does not stay compressed after you empty it.

Summary

• Surgical drains are used to remove extra fluid that normally builds up in a surgical wound after surgery.
• Different kinds of surgical drains include active drains and passive drains. Active drains use suction to pull drainage away from the surgical wound, and passive drains allow fluid to drain naturally.
• It is important to care for your drain to prevent infection. If your drain is placed at your back, or any other hard-to-reach area, ask another person to assist you.
• Contact your health care provider if you have more redness, swelling, or pain around your drain area.