Out of town surgery - drains still not finished. Where/how do I get them removed?

Question

I got surgery in New York City and I live 300 miles away. I was told the average time for drain removal was 7-10 days and I planned for 12 days here. I'm on day 10 and still have too much fluid for the drain to be removed. I can't come back to NYC from Maryland/ Washington, DC and I can't stay. Any idea where I can get the drains removed where I am? My surgeon said to go to my primary doc but she says she's not comfortable with it. Please offer some helpful, non- judgemental advice. Thank you.

Jerome Edelstein, MD · Answer

Hello,Thank you for your question. Your Plastic Surgeon may be able to speak with your primary care doctor about removing the drain to ensure that they are comfortable with your situation first. As well, your Plastic Surgeon may be able to refer you to another Plastic Surgeon in your area. If you go to an urgent care centre or ER there should certainly be someone available to take care of drain removal, but I would recommend that you discuss the first two options with your Plastic Surgeon first.All the best

William Andrade, MD · Answer

Hello, if you are far from your surgeon and your family MD is not comfortable removing the drains, perhaps you could try a walk-in clinic or urgent care centre?  You could always call first and see what they say.

Michael A. Epstein, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your question.Travel for plastic surgery is very common, and my practice is always very honored by patients that travel long distances to have their care here.  While we like to perform all of the follow-up at our office, we understand that at some point patients have to travel home, and patients must continue to be cared for.  More often than not, primary care doctors are able to do minor things like remove drains, but as you are finding out, sometimes that is not the case.The first thing I would recommend is have your surgeon's office contact your primary care doctor to talk about drain removal.  Often this conversation is enough to ease the mind of a primary care doctor.If not, I then I would ask your surgeon for recommendations for a colleague in the DC area who may continue to take care of you.If your surgeon doesn't have recommendations, then check out the ASPS website for a listing of surgeons in your area (plasticsurgery.org), or you may be able to find one on RealSelf.  Best of luck!

Young R. Cho, MD, PhD · Answer

Thank you for your question and for sharing your experience with us.  I would recommend that you visit with a plastic surgeon in your area and pay a visit fee if they are willing to see you.  They should be able to remove a drain and give you a quick assessment of your result.

Larry S. Nichter, MD, MS, FACS · Answer

I would go to your nearest plastic surgeon. Drain removal is a simple and straight forward procedure. Checkout the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic surgery (see below link) or American Society for Plastic Surgery under "find a doctor" tab.

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

Generally your primary care physician could remove the drains, but you mentioned she's not comfortable doing so.  You may need to contact another board certified plastic surgeon in your area for removal but be aware there will typically be a charge for this service.

Sugene Kim, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi, raify.Although plastic surgery is very safe with low risk/complication rate, after-care is recommended. Personally, I like to monitor my patients' progress for 6months to one year.Please ask your plastic surgeon to refer a plastic surgeon in your area who is willing to remove the drain and perform the after care for you.Best regards.

Alan M. Engler, MD, FACS (retired) · Answer

You need to find a plastic surgeon in the Washington DC/Maryland area, of which there are many, who will follow up with you.  It may be a simple as one or two visits (for monitoring and then drain removal) or, of course, it can be more complicated.  Hopefully not, of course.You can ask your plastic surgeon to help you find someone.  Using the ASPS list you can call a few surgeons and see which ones will accept you for care (there may fees for this but that's a different issue) and then, if you can find a few, see if your plastic surgeon can make a call or two to facilitate the transfer of care.Fortunately, there are many excellent plastic surgeons in your home area so it should, from that standpoint, be relatively easy to arrange.I hope that this helps and good luck,Dr. Alan EnglerMember of #RealSelf100

Out of town surgery - drains still not finished. Where/how do I get them removed?

Answers (8)

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