What are drain tubes for?

I have a question , hope someone can answer for me.
I had a TAH a few weeks ago. I had to come home with a drain tube in my right side. I was told this was to remove infection. But was still kind of out of it, so i didn't really ask anything else. It was removed on monday (extremely painful to remove) I was in so much pain after wards i still didn't ask what it was for. Does anyone know why some women have to have these kept in when they come home? ( All i know is, it was catching blood, i had to empty and measure the amount of blood every day.) It is still very sore especially on that side. And the hole is a good size there not to mention the swelling is worse on that side. Hope someone can help me.
Thanks for listening.
LitleBitty

Dearest sister LitleBitty--your MD must have found some free fluid or infection in there during surgery. Even if the surgeon cleans out all the visible pus and infection at the time of surgery, it will build back up rapidly if there is no way for it to exit the body.

Then you would be in huge trouble!!! Of course it hurt to take it out! Your innards are very sensitive to pressure and pulling, and now that hole has to heal up from your skin all the way up inside you. If the pain bothers you too badly, ask for another pain prescription if you have run out of whatever you were sent home with.

I'm 11 weeks post op and still get some pain -- almost like I still have a uterus and it is sore or crampy. I rarely take more pain meds than a motrin that they sent home with me--so there is some light at the end of the tunnel. But as you will read in so many of these postings, it takes a good year to fully heal inside. It is easy to be misled by a good looking incision, but you have had a lot of trauma inside, and things like the bladder and your abdominal muscles take a long time to stop hurting.

If your doc took out the drain, then you must be getting better! He wouldn't have done that if you were still draining too much. So try and focus on the little day by day "victories" and getting that drain out was really a big victory!
oneofmany

Hi there LitleBitty

I am sorry you had to come home with drain tubes in place. Some women need them for a variety of reasons. But as you stated, you obviously had an infection of some sort and it would need a way to drain out. Hence the need for a drain and collection bulb. It's sometimes painful to remove due to deep placement, sutures holding it in place, and/or the tissues around the site being irritated by the tubing. It should feel better as the days pass and the wound should be closing up.

Follow the doctors instructions on care of the wound site very carefully. You don't want another infection setting in. Ask for more pain medication if you feel you need it. When you are keptat a comfortable level of pain control, it's always better for healing. Watch for infection at the wound site. If it becomes red, red area grows in size, you run a temp, experience bad adb. pain or nausea, call your doc right away. I would keep some type of dressing over the site until it's edges are closed completely, and I wouldn't take any baths until the site is closed.

If you are not scheduled to go back to the doctor soon, why don't you make a list of questions, call the doc's nurse and discuss them with her. If the doc is available, discuss them with him and let him reassure you regarding what type of infection it was you had. The exact type of infection and it's cause is always very good information to know.

Let us know how you are progressing.
Hugs to you - Melissa

I had a drain tube for five and a half days post-op, in my case still in the hospital. I was on heparin pre-op and coumadin/Lovenox post-op, so had more bleeding than most. My drain caught a lot of blood during those first few days. Without a drain, that blood would form a large hard clot inside you that could have extremely serious consequences. Little did I know that there was about 12-15" of tube inside me - what a surprise when they pulled it out! And the resulting hole was larger than I expected, plus it started to bleed, had to be stitched up, and almost kept me in the hospital for another day (thanks to the anticoagulants). The hole from the drain didn't get to start healing until almost a week after the incision, so it was the thing that I had to be most careful about as far as showering and making sure it was clean and dry. Like Melissa said, I kept it clean and dressed until it was well healed. It's an inconvenience having that drain tube, but be glad that you were well enough to go home with it, didn't have to stay in the hospital like me!

My appendix ruptured in '93 and I had a drainage tube because of all of the nasty toxins that were swimming around freely in my system. They didn't even stich me up, I had a gaping hole in my tummy for weeks. I believe it was for the best because I truly did recover completely from what could have been a deadly situation. I am glad for you that your doctor had the insight to get that nasty stuff out of you. Even if it is/was inconvenient and uncomfortable. Hang in there.

DR