yet another drain question

I know I have seen somthing on here before about this but can't find it.  I have 2 drains coming out of both hip/saddlebag areas.  The right drain keep leaking down my leg a bit.  We looked for a clot and couldn't find one.  It is still driaining in the cup as well but just also leaking from the place where the tube goes into my leg.

Is that okay/normal?

I'm still on Loratabs but hate the way they make me fee.  I'm hoping tomorrow to switch it something over the counter.

Mine did that and my Dr. wasn't worried about it. Told me to take a 4x4 fold it in half then cut a slit in the center not going all the way thru. That slit allows you to fit it around the drain and tape it in place. Helps keep the fluid running down your leg and getting all over your clothes.

Aloha DF-

Did you call your PS in case they want to see you? This should not be construed as medical advice, but the way a drain works is.....

Your drain system is intact (because some of the fluid is draining into the bulb). If it can keep a suction when you activate it ( squeeze the bulb with the stopper open then stopper it quickly while maintaining the squeeze---- if the bulb stays smushed and suctioning then it's still working the way it's supposed to).

It could be that the exit hole from your  skin is large, and some of the fluid also leaks around the tube and out the exit hole ( these are not  entirely closed systems where the end of the tube is perfectly placed into the pocket of fluid....there are many sites along the drain's travels where  fluid accumulates and spreads into surrounding areas, and it will leak around the tube in that case and out the exit hole in your skin). In addition to being messy, it is potentially an open portal for bacteria to enter your surgical site, but it's still better to be draining somewhere  than not at all, that's the function of a drain!  If the fluid were just left to accumulate into a big pocket (called a seroma) and wasn't draining at all, that can put pressure on the healing suture line and set you up for an abscess or cellulitis later ( infection).

If it's leaking alot, though, I'd cover the exit hole---- in a perfect world, you should be washing your hands first, and then wearing sterile gloves when you handle your drains. It would also be helpful to have some sterile gauze 4x4s to tape over the exit wound where some fluid is leaking and change that gauze bandage as often as needed to keep the area as clean and dry as possible ( like every 8 hours). It would not hurt to put a dab or thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment ( like Neosporin) on this gauze, then a couple more 4x4s on top of that and tape it over the hole.

Do try to call your surgeon ( I know it's Saturday but they'd want to at least hear about it).

Good luck- XOXOLori

One of my arm drains leaked a bit - I had a home health care nurse who came and used this anti-microbial ribbon as a bandage - she cut it in half and laid it around the tube.  And then put this clear tape-type bandage over top (it was a big sheet).  She changed it when it got goopy.  But it was fine...the bulb was still draining.