We recently had many questions about the drains how they work and why they are a necessity. We have been seeing questions about the drainless options and thought it would be a good idea to inform you about the drains.
During the surgery, a surgical interruption is created in the surgical area which is either your tummy, breast, face, or extremities. Your immune system identifies this interference and directs all of its healing power to the area. The first step of the healing is to isolate the damage from the rest of the body which in this case is achieved by swelling. Swelling is good in terms of isolating the damage but it slows down the oxygen and nutrients exchange between the body and the surgical site. This slows down the healing process. (Remember, your body doesn’t know yet if this area can completely heal or not so finds it is extremely smart to isolate the area and see how it goes from there!) Drains come in extremely handy to control swelling in these situations.
Secondly, in any surgical interference, circulatory paths are slightly interrupted in terms of capillaries or small arteries. This means that in skin removal, liposuction, or augmentation cases some blood vessels are rerouted. Think of this in that way, the skin or the fat tissue removed had some blood vessels once they were attached to your body!
So, the circulatory path is slightly reconstructed but some stubborn vessels may not like the way they are reconstructed and start bleeding. This is what we call a hematoma. This usually occurs within 24 hours after the surgery and around-the-clock monitoring is extremely important.
If you lose blood this is a big problem. If the blood you lose starts to form clots in your body cavities, well that is an even bigger problem! Drains help us to monitor if you have minor bleeding. In this case, they fill with blood. (If you have major bleeding, we can tell this without needing the drains)
During the surgery, drains are placed into the surgical area before it is closed and sewn together and we usually remove them on the day of your discharge from the hospital of course checking your drainage levels.
Nowadays, drainless tummy tucks or breast augmentations are becoming an option offered to patients. They work as a funnel drainage system that is being created using your fat, connective, and skin tissue. This has many disadvantages as patients continue to drain on their clothes, and compressions even after 5-6 weeks following the surgery. The drainage wounds that stay open for this long after the surgery are prone to scarring, infection, and constant agitation.
Klinik Europe is the only company that provides around-the-clock medical monitoring starting right after the surgery. We have our night nurses who monitor your vitals, mobilization, pain levels, hydration, discharge, and many other vitals. Our rapid recovery blueprint enables us to identify early signs of any complications before your doctor or hospital nurses even notice and take action.
Write down in the comments if you have any questions about the drains and our post-op recovery program. Please share this group link with people whom you think may also benefit from reading this post.
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