Do you cut and bag wound drains??

Hi all, new here so be gentle :-)

Im looking to find out if any of you "cut and bag" your abdominal (or other) wound drains?

We sometimes do this when the drain site itself is leaking and poses both an infection risk and a nuisance as its difficult to accurately measure it. Asides from this it can be very uncomfortable and distressing for the patient.

So, we tend to cut the drain about 4 - 6 inches from the site, pierce it with a largish safety pin and thread this through a small wound bag to collect the drainage both from the wound and the insertion site.

(hope that makes sense)

Problem I have is that there is no set down procedure for this and we are flying blind. Theres nothing i can find in the way of evidence either for or against either, so Im hoping someone here will be able to help out??

Looking forward to a reply

Paul.

I guess you're talking about penrose drains. We really don't do it routinely, but it sure makes sense to do it that way. I think the most important thing is that it maintains the integrity of the surrounding skin. And subjects the patient to less frequent dressing changes.

Welcome to the forums.

O_S

try milking the drain first. pinch the drain close to the insertion with one2 fingers and with the other pinch and slide your fingers to the end of the drain.

if the drain is plugged inside the site sometimes advancing the drain a small amount with unclog it.

sko