Surgical Drain Care

We discussed what surgical drains are and their functionality in a previous video. Today, we’re going to discuss how to take care of your surgical drains! 1. Clean the surgical drain. This is done to minimize the risk of infections! The easiest way to do this is to hold the surgical drain in place from the exit site of the skin with your non-dominant hand, and to clean the surgical drain with your dominant hand using alcohol. Once you reach a distance, keep your dominant hand clamped, and advance your non-dominant hand to the spot. You’ll repeat this until you reach the drainage bulb. 2. Empty the surgical drain. As the bulbs fill, you’ll want to empty the contents and record the output. 3. Compress the surgical drain. You want to ensure that the surgical drain is always compressed to allow a vacuum like seal of the fluid into the collection bulb. Voila. You’re now a surgical drain care expert.