explain the drain

Ok well my surgeon said I would be getting a drain and then moved on to something else pretty quick and I forgot to say,,,, umm a drain,,?  where? for what?  could someone explain.

 

it drains out the blood and other fluids from your surgery, its a somewhat long tube with a plastic soft ball at the end that collects the fluid its put in you during surgery around the diaphram area, some doc pull it out in 2-3 days before you go home. and during your hospital stay the nurses come empty out the soft ball that collects the fluid.

While I was in the hospital I had a drain.  It was a tube with a bulb on the end that collected fluids from my incisions.  The nurses came in and emptied the bulb (and my cathater bag) every two hours, making sure it didn't look like there was excess internal bleeding or infection starting.  The drain was removed right before I was discharged, and they just covered it with a bunch of gauze.

Hope this helps.

You can Google...Jackson Pratt and that will help you out and give you a visual.

Hugs

Donna

Hi - don't freak out about it!  I didn't know I was getting one and woke up with it!  It doesn't hurt or anything.  They pulled it out the day I was discharged - again - don't freak out - I thought it was going to hurt and it didn't - they just put something that looked like liquid glue on the little hole and that was it. 

I also had a JP drain to collect any  extra blood and my surgeon had me have it in for a week  after surgery and a nurse could come to ur house and drain it for u or u could do it yourself! I did it by my self and I was happy to have it out after 7 days I still showered with it and just changed the guagues every night after showering, it had a weird feeling when he pulled it out!!

I had an NG tube that went down my nose into my stomach to drain. Not that big of a deal.

 That was a good visual on the Google search.  Ask the doctor how long you will have the drain.  I had mine 6 days, until my post op appointment.  It didn't hurt, but I was appreciative when he removed it.  It's a slight annoyance.  A helpful hint - get yourself a laynard (neckstrap badge holder thing) and use it to hold the bulb up.  It's easier to shower and just easier in general than pinning to your clothing.

My surgeon puts in a drain,  it came out right before i was released from the hospital.  He doesn't do a leak test but they can tell from the fluid that it collects if there is a leak or problem of some kind.   By looking at the fluid in the drain, if you had a leak some of the fluids you eat would be in the little bulb and they would know there was a problem.   Nothing to worry about,  its a good thing  :o) Jeani

I had a drain in for about a week.  My surgeon does a leak test in the OR, a swallow leak test one day post op, and then has the drain in to detect any leaks after that... a JP drain... that he said once i started the protein shakes that if the drainage was cloudy, then I probably had a leak... looking back, it seems like he was just trying to be overly cautious.  (He also sat though the entire leak test one day post op observing everything along with the radiologist.)  He removed it in his office at my first appointment although I still had some drainage coming out of it.  It was very easy to take care of at home.  I just had my husband help me change the gauze around it after I showered because I could not see it completely.  It was just under my breast on my abdomen.  For me, it really hurt when it came out, like my whole side was on fire for about 10 minutes, but also it hurt to take deep breaths the last few days it was in because he said it was positioned just under my diaphram where the stomach was.  It was a relief to come out.  He also said that he put a larger than usual drain in me due to having a lot of fluid in my abdomen during surgery and I am also very sensitive in general--sensitive skin, lots of allergies--so he thought that is probably why it hurt more.  My husband had a drain after his surgery too with the same doctor and only said if felt like a cramping for a few moments while it was coming out. 
Hope this is helpful.  Feel free to call your doctor with any questions.  That is what they are there for.