Managing the suction drain:

Aim: to suck out the undesirable fluid accumulation in the cavity created post surgery.

Parts: the two tubes are inserted via skin. One in the breast surgery part and another into the armpit. The tubes are secured in place with a suture ligature. The two tubes drain into one via a connector. The tube has a clickable locking mechanism that can open or close the connection of tubes to the vacuumised box. The tube has a detachable connection to the vacuumised box which ultimately stores the unwanted fluid.

Operating the romovac suction drain system:
The box can be emptied upon disconnection from the tube as shown in the picture. The effluent fluid has to be measured by emptying into a measuring jar or any utensil and measured using a syringe.

Precautions:
The drains should not be pulled out as it could be painful and may invite complications like slippage of the drain tube.
It is advisable to keep the drain box and tube into a bag with a medium length belt that can be carried in the neck or shoulder.

Certain exercises are to be avoided when the drain is in place. Please refer to the exercise section for detail.
Avoid swimming, sauna, tub bath, excess hot water bath when drain is in place

Daily charting of the same guides for the timely removal. In usual practice, drains are removed when constantly for 2 days the output is less than 20 ml. The drain removal is done by a doctor or trained nurse. It is a relatively painless procedure.

Date of surgery: