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 body to absorb the fluid. After several hours, I place the drains to bulb suction and measure the quantity to see if their body responds. If it does, I will remove the drain with relative confidence. In situations where it does not, I would remove one drain at a time and watch the response. Usually by 4 weeks, I have done this because the drains begin to cause discomfort at the exit site. I inform patients they may need to come back for repeated aspirations if the fluid recurs. Fortunately the skin tends to be numb. Repeated aspirations usually result in successful management despite the incovenience of multiple trips to the office.

The vast majority of abdominoplasty patients have their
drains removed within two weeks of their surgical procedure. We generally wait
until the drainage has dropped below 25cc in a 24 hour period. Unfortunately,
some patients have persistent drainage for longer periods of time. In some
cases we’ve seen patients drain for four to six weeks. When this situation
arises we worry about the potential for infection, since these drains are a two
way street.When
this situation arises we continue the use of compression garments and minimize
activity levels. Rarely sclerosing agents are used to decrease drainage.Occasionally
none of these treatments work and the surgeon is left with a difficult
decision. In these cases, drains may actually stimulate drainage. Under these
circumstances, the surgeon may elect to pull the drains even though the
drainage is still high. If fluid accumulates percutaneous aspiration can be
used to address the problem.It’s
important to maintain close contact with your surgeon. Your surgeon should be
able to formulate a plan that successfully manages this problem.

Continuation of drainage following a TT is one of the uncommon complications occasionally seen. Drains will continue draining for months until they become clogged. The negative pressure from the drain bulbs will suction the fluid out of the lymphatics and  tissue until the suction itself is discontinued. 30 ml of clear drainage per drain is an acceptable amount to start backing out the drains. An alternative is to remove the suction device from the drains and let them gravity drain. With either techniques I have found that the drainage will diminish to the point that they can be removed, providing you do not have an infection and the drainage is clear and not red, as in blood. This of course has to be done by your PS, so these are only suggestions.Good luck.