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my son had his staples removed from his belly on Wed.  Apparently, a tiny part of the incession didn't close.  Just our luck.  Well, from this little hole, there is quite a bit of drainage.  So much so it is lifting his ostomy wafer.  Not sure if I should call the doctor, or take him a urgent care place or what.  I don't want to go to the ER.  I hate the place and this is not an emergency situation in my mind.  Has anyone else had this happen, where the incescion didn't close completely?  Not sure what to do!

dianne

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Call his doctor. Could just be a minor seroma (fluid collection) that needed to drain. If there is no swelling, redness, or pus discharging, it should be OK to wait and see. Seroma drainage is clear, pink-tinged or straw color. The drainage should reduce pretty quickly. Watch his temp for a fever. If the drainage picks up instead of slowing, or he spkies a fever, you'll need to bite the bullet and be seen In urgent care or the ER. But, it should be OK until Monday.

 

Jan

Jan, thank you.  I'll call the doctor tomorrow.  The stuff coming out is just as you explained.  Fortunately, he doesn't have a fever.  Why can't anything be easy?  

 

jeff said aid everything held over night.  When he wakes up again, I'll look at the i cession again and see what's going on.  He does tend to be a bit dramatic, but the output of the drainage has been about a tablespoon if not a little bit more on a daily basis.  I'm sure it doesn't help that he squeezes it toget the yuck out!

 

dianne

Discourage squeezing the incision! This could backfire and cause the internal sutures to fail and expose him to an infection that is deep, as opposed to a simple external one. Let the surgeon mess with it if it needs it.

 

A teaspoon a day is no big deal, but let it drain on its own. I had a peritoneal leak that was saturating heavy dressings in a few hours. That thing took a couple of months to heal and it was the beginning of a cascade of complications that were rather huge (with my presacral abscess being the worst). The leak did not cause the presacral abscess, but I did wind up with a bad incisional infection.

 

Jan

 

 

Oh great!  Thanks Jan!!  That would our luck.  I just told him not to squeeze it.  That it could make things worse. I'll call the surgeon tomorrow, but they only see patients on Weds, and Thus.  I may just end up in the urgent care.  The drainage amount has not lessened, not worse either. It just keeps coming out and coming out.  It ends up leaking under the wafer no matter what we put on.  I've tried waterproof band aids, gauze under the band aids, today I bought Tagaderm with the hope that that will stop the spillage.  funny thing, I worked on the development of Tagaderm, only then Johnson & Johnson had the patent and it was called Bioclusive!  I worked in health care for almost 15 years.  Miss it!  

 

Seromas can continue to produce drainage until the pocket collapses, so don't worry about that. I've had personal and professional experience with them. They are a nusuiance, but pretty benign. 

 

Hope the Tegaderm helps. If not, try trimming the wafer so that there is enough of a dry margin away from the incision, even if it means a smaller area of coverage. 

 

Jan

 

P.S. Tegaderm is a cool product. I remember when it first came out. It was a really revolutionary product for dressings!

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