Drains

I will be having an abdominoplasty on July 24th. I just started to wonder how long until the drains are removed? Also my post op appt is only 2 days after my surgery, is that common? Thanks in advance.

I think this is something that only your surgeon can answer because every surgeon seems to have a different procedure for it!

My first post-op appointment was 8 days post-op (but the surgeon saw me in the hospital the morning after surgery). My drains were removed then because they were putting out less than a certain amount of liquid a day. But I've seen people who have had drains for weeks and weeks. So.. yeah. Question for your surgeon for sure.

And yay! Less than a month away for you!

I had a post-op visit 3 days after surgery (TT and facelift). The drains came out at about 10-14 days (can't remember exactly). PS said the timing on drain removal depends on drainage amount per day (once under a certain amount they come out).

I believe each surgeon is different when it comes to drains. One of my tubes was removed after it got down to 30 cc (1-ounce), which was about the 3rd day. You'll need to measure how much is coming out of the drainage daily. The other drain didn't come out for another 7 days. Its very common to have a doctors appointment after 2-3 days. The surgeon will check your drains and your incision. Drainage was no big deal for me.

I did not have drains for my arm lift/breast lift. But I will have them for the thigh work I have schedule for July. I was given the same facts - the drains can come out when then are producing less than 30 ml a day.

I had two drains. One wasn't getting much, about 10 ml a day. That was removed after a week. The second stayed in another 5 days. They will remove them after you have less than 30 ml of fluid in the drain for two days in a row. The length of time depends on each person, but is generally 1-2 weeks.

I'm 8 days post op for abdominoplasty and I still have my drains. My surgeon takes them out when they drain a total of 25cc a day for 3 days. It's usually a couple of weeks. I saw one girl on the support group FB page said she had to keep hers in until 3.5 weeks.

I hate my drains with a passion.

They can be a nuisance, but my surgeon explained to me that the drains are very important to our healing. If fluid accumulates and doesn't get drained, this fluid would prevent from healing and will also minimize infection. Just a couple of weeks with these drains, but the results are wonderful! Hang-in-there.