How To Observe Proper Surgical Drain Management

By Lucia Weeks


Surgeons perform operations on certain people so that they can save their lives. They may have to remove foreign objects from the bodies of these people, such as tumors or bullets, among others. These patients may need organ transplants to replace those that do not work properly.

After the operations, apparatuses will most likely be placed by the surgeons on their incisions for blood and lymphatic fluid buildup to be prevented. These apparatuses or surgical drains will only be removed if these liquids will be less than 30 ml in a day. For the patients, the correct surgical drain management should be observed for further complications to be prevented.

Prior to performing the routine, he should be washing his hand thoroughly with water and soap. Afterwards, he should be unpinning this thing from his shirt and placing it on a clean towel. He should not just be putting it anywhere, especially if it has bacteria. The bacteria could be reaching the drain and causing complications.

The individuals should hold the tubes that come out of their incision sites with one hand. They should use their free hand to gently squeeze all the liquid that will flow through these tubes. They have to squeeze from the top to the bottom. They need to make sure that they will push all the fluids to the drainage bulbs. It is normal if the tubes will stretch at these cases.

If his drainage bulb has a volume indicator, he should be holding it at eye level for him to be clearly measuring it. If his bulb does not have an indicator, he could be utilizing a measuring cup, instead. He should be opening this thing and pouring the contents to the cup. He should see to it that he will not be leaving even a wee amount. The fluid could typically be yellowish or pinkish.

The volumes of these liquids should be taken note of and recorded in log books by the persons. The time should also be indicated alongside them. These records will be used by doctors to identify whether these drains can already be removed or not. Afterwards, these liquids should be poured down to their toilets and flushed.

The measuring cups should be washed after being utilized. Peroxide can be applied on these things for bacterias to be avoided. These things should be stored in similar places together, such as the clean towels, pens, and log books, so that their routines can be performed continuously. However, these should be kept away from the children.

After they finish their routines, the patients should pin these drains back to their clothes. They also need to wash their hands thoroughly again. If they want to, they can apply peroxide on the skins around the incision sites to make sure that possible bacteria will not enter from there.

If he notices that the skin around his incision where the tube is sticking out is becoming swollen or red, he should be immediately consulting his doctor. He should also be doing the same thing if he notices that the fluid has pus or bright red color and smells bad. The doctor will be taking the appropriate actions in remedying the situation.




About the Author:



No comments:

Medical Updates and Health Tips