How to Stop Tummy Tuck Drainage?

AS the other physicians have said, 4 weeks is a long time because most drains come out at 1-2 weeks in over 90% of patients. Having said that, occasionally I have had a patient in whom drainage persists far longer than that and I take each patient as an individual and discuss the options. Therefore you should discuss this with your surgeon whose management options may differ from mine. In these situations, I have clamped off the drain for several hours to try to "train" the... more

Sometimes, just having the drains present in the abdomen will cause drainage. I would remove the drains now and then see you every 3 days or so for 2 -3 visits. IF you accumulate a lot of fluid (which is unlikely) your surgeon can always aspirate this fluid easily in the office.

You will always have some drainage with suction drains. If you have two drains and your total drainage is about 60 ccs., then each drain is evacuating 30ccs. or about a little over 1 cc. per hour. Because of the vacuum effect when the bulbs are placed to suction, you will always draw out fluid from tissue around the drain. Of course your surgeon will determine the cause of your specific drainage situation but if you and he are concerned about it and there is no immediate reason for... more

I had a patient such as yourself and I read about a study using Tisseal, a product that is used to aid in clotting, for this purpose. I used it and the results were miraculous. Ask your doctor to research using this product. Good Luck.

As the other surgeons have already mentioned, there may be many reasons for increased drainage at 4 weeks. In my experience, liquifying fat, which might also cause areas of firmness in your lower tummy, might be a possibility. Low grade infection should also be ruled out. At this point, it might be wise to back the drain out slowly. This is sometimes called, "converting the drain to a Penrose." It protects you, somewhat, from the possibility of a seroma (fluid collection)... more

In my experience over the last 30 years, one month seems to be a long time to have drains in place. BUT the amount of drainage can depend upon many factors: 1.The type of abdominoplasty,and surgical technique. 2.Was suction done and to what extent 3.Type of drains and post op care. 4.General health status 5.Previous abdominal operations 6. Use of compression garments post op. 7.Activity post op. Speak with your surgeon about your concerns and hopefully they'll come out soon. .... more

At 4 weeks, your drainage should be substantially reduced and you should be able to take out the drains. On average, patients will have drains for 1-2 weeks after an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Sometimes, it can be up to 3 weeks and very rarely longer. I agree with Dr. Yuan. If your drainage is more than 30 cc per day per drain, then you can take one drain off suction and see if fluid accumulates in the other drain. At the least, you should be able to remove one drain. Then you will have... more