Question:
Incisional Leak
Hello everyone, I just had surgery on July 20th and two days ago an incisional leak started. I was not sent home with a drainage tube. I was so scared until I talked to my surgeon and he said that it was common and normal. Has anyone else had this and what did you do to keep it clean and well covered. I am constantly changing the gauze. Now I have a small opening at the bottom of my incision (actually three small openings) where it is leaking out from. When does it end? Oh, and it smells really bad too. Any advice or suggestions? — Dawn H. (posted on July 31, 2001)
July 31, 2001
Hi!! I'm 8 weeks post op and the leaking ithas just started to heal,my
doctor also said it was normal and since the gauze change was getting kind
of expensive for me he told me to put a Kotex pad to cover it and so I
did.It's really unconfortable but we need to get that fat out!! YUCK.I hope
this helps.
— Monica J.
July 31, 2001
Hello! Please..not to worry. I had my surgery back in June and the incision
was healing nicely after my staples were removed..until suddenly I had some
red imflamed areas around the incision area that caused it to rise up. It
was hot to the touch as well. I applied an ice pack and that night a meduim
size hole emerged that developed into quite a large hole. The surgeon said
it was good that happened..I had alot to get drained out from that. Like
you, I paniced and phoned my surgeon. He checked me over and assured me it
is normal and quite common..especially if you had staples. I have a friend
who had the skin taping and she had only a tiny hole that healed right up
to deal with..lucky her huh?! Anyhow..the advice I recieved was to keep it
washed with DIAL soap 3 or 4 times per day and keep it aired out. I found
using a gauze soaked up too much fluid and pulled the wounded area. So I
use a pantiliner which is breatheable only when I am at work or going out.
Much of the time I have leave it open to air around the house. I also keep
my binder on as much as possible too for added support. For the tiny holes,
I applied alchaol (sp? sorry!) to help dry them up and it seems to work in
a few days. I worry about those smaller holes getting bigger and connecting
with the larger hole. Do know that you have to heal from the inside out..so
it will take time. My hole is now beginning to get much smaller now and
narrower. The offensive smell is perhaps infection. Any ordor or pain
should be reported..at least that is what my surgeon's office told me. Hope
this helps!!!!
— [Anonymous]
July 31, 2001
This happened to me also. I was 10 days post op and it just popped open in
2 places. The doctor put me on antibiotics to avoid infection and that was
it. I was really startled because I leaked a very large amount of fluid
all in a big gush. I am now 12 weeks post op and you can't really tell
where it was open. The scar is just slightly thicker in those areas and
the whole thing is fading slowly.
— KarenW
July 31, 2001
Dawn, Not to worry. I had an incisional leak to, it scared me at first,
but turned out to be nothing major. My doctor had me flush it out with the
rinse you use on contact lenses (in fact I gave the rest of the bottle to
my friend who took care of me and wears contacts), and I put a little twist
of gauze in it, with a gauze strip over it, changing both periodically! It
went away after a week and I healed no problem!
— Carrie G.
July 31, 2001
Hi. can you be more specific about the odor? And the drainage, is it green
or yellows puss? If you have the pus and a bad odor, then you have an
infection on your incision. I know ALLLLL about that...i've had it twice.
Once while in the hospital, and once after i got home. It was a MESS. I
could barely stand myself it smelled so bad, and i couldn't eat either.
some amount of clear and or bloody drainage is normal. I've had an open
wound for six months (ugh) and the last hole to close (YAY!!) is still
draining bloody liquid.
— Trisha V.
July 31, 2001
Hi, to all the posters stating they uses Kotex or Panty liners to absorb
the drainage. This worries me. We have OPENINGS to the insides of our
bodies. My nurse won't even let me TOUCH my incision, let alone use
something that isn't sterile to cover the wound. I use these GREAT things
called SURGIPADS from Johnson and Johnson...they are 5x9 and extremely
absorbant and they're sterile. good luck to everyone!
— Trisha V.
August 15, 2001
WHEN I HAD OTHER SURGERIES WHEN THEY TOOK OUT MY STAPLES I WENT HOME AND
THE BOTTOM OF MY INSCION OPENED AND THE TAPE CAME UNDONE. SO MY HUSBAND
CALLED THE NURSE. AND SHE SAID RETAPE IT.IT LEAKED FOR 3 OR 4 MONTHS. AND
IT SMELLED BAD.BUT IT IS GOOD FOR IT TO COME OUT. I HAD TO WASH IT REAL
GOOD WITH SOAP AND WATER.NOW I HAVE A BIG SCAR ON THE BOTTOM OF MY BELLY.
— Debby B.
October 10, 2001
Hi!,
About 2 weeks after my surgery, I was was walking around my parents home
and felt dripping down my leg. My incision was dripping so much that I had
to lay down or it would leak all over the floor. It had gone through my
underwear, and all of my clothing. Kinda Disguisting. It healed very well
though and I haven't had any problems with it since. Tell your doctor and
they should give you some extra gauze pads, but it does go away.
— Deborah U.
October 29, 2001
I had my incision open up the day after having my staples removed to about
the size of a quarter. I went to the ER and the doc there took a culture to
see if it was infected and then he said he wouldn't stitch it closed but
instead he packed it with saline soaked packing gauze, applied a dressing
and arranged for home care nursing. About a week after that, another small
hole opened up about 2 inches below the first one. My surgeon decided he
should make the two small holes into one big hole (about the size of a
small tangerine)by cutting the skin between the holes (without freezing as
well) and then it was packed with over two yeards of 2 inch wide saline
soaked packing gauze. This started on August 11th and is still ongoing. The
hole is much, much smaller now and the daily home care nurses say it should
hopefully be all healed up within 2-3 weeks. It didn't turn out to be
infected, but something called "seroma" which is basically the
fat and excess tissue liquifying. It was terrifying when it first opened
and started pouring out. I soaked a towel folded over 4 times in a matter
of seconds. The drainage is much less now, but I still need to have the
packing and dressing changed (and the hole irrigated) daily. Hope this
helps!
— Mickey C.
January 23, 2003
At about 1 1/2 weeks post op I started to have a little drainage from my
incision. You couldn't even really see a hole or anything in the incision;
it was just a bit of drainage at first. Initially, I was a little freaked
but not too much, as my aftercare papers said some drainage was normal.
However, after two hours and more profuse leaking, I called the doctor.
After asking me a few questions, he told me that it was liquified fat that
was draining and that I should go into the shower and go over my incision
with a washcloth, using it in a rolling pin fashion. He said that it was
important to get this fluid out, and that I may need to do this shower
thing 3 to 5 times a day. He told that in between I should cover it with
gauze , so as not to mess up my clothes. He said it wasn't really anything
to worry about. I did as instructed, although I found the shower/washcloth
thing necessary merely twice a day. The leaking lasted Friday evening to
Sunday night, and has been stopped for about 3 1/2 days. I am now 16 days
post op.
— raylo
Click Here to Return