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Post-Surgery Drain Care
Your surgeon has put one or more drains (or drainage tubes) made of soft plastic in the area of
your incision.
Drains are used in the incision area to stop fluid from building up. Fluid keeps the surgical site from
healing.
Each drain has a suction bulb (the “drainage bottle” in the figure above) that will hold 3-4 oz. of
fluid. The amount of fluid that collects in the bulb over a 24-hour period will slowly decrease.
The fluid color may change from red to reddish- yellow, then to yellowish-white. This depends on
where the surgeon puts the drain.
Stripping the Tube
Each tube should be “stripped” if it looks like it is not draining
1. Hold the tubing near where it is inserted into the skin with one hand
2. With the other hand (or a hard object like a pencil), gently squeeze the tubing while moving the
hand along the tubing in a downward direction, away from the skin, toward the suction bulb
3. You may need to repeat this a few times to get it to start draining again
4. When stripping the drain, it will sometimes become flat; this is expected and normal
5. Often times there will be pieces of tissue in the drain; this is normal
Draining the Tube
Your surgeon may take out your drain when the fluid is between 20-30cc for a 24-hour period, two days
in a row. This is surgeon specific
and your drain usually needs to be in for at least a week. If you have
two drains in one area, only one drain will be removed at a time.
