British Journal ofPlastic Surgery (1979), 32, II+II
DRAINAGE
SYRINGE:
A SIMPLE VACUUM
METHOD DRAINAGE
FOR
CLOSED
ACTIVE
By LIOR ROSENBERG,M.D. and DAN MAHLER, M.D. Department of Plastic Surgery, Soroka University Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel ONE of the main criteria for good primary healing is avoiding the accumulation of exudates and blood into operated cavities. Adequate drainage is often essential and “active drainage”. i.e. a drain that “sucks” the exudates from the operated area is the most efficient. Alas, the cost of a good “active drain” is sometimes the reason that surgeons do not use them in relatively small operations.
FIG.
I.
The
components
of the drainage syringe: A, Spring; B, Cylinder; stopcock; E, Draining catheter. FIG. 2.
Compressing
C, Piston;
D, Three-way
the drainage syringe.
FIG. 3.
The use of 2 sets of drainage syringes in a case of gynaecomastia. position.)
FIG. 4.
Emptying
(Note the stopcock’s
the blood from the syringe can be achieved without disconnecting just by turning the stopcock’s handle. 114
handle
the whole apparatus,
DRAINAGE
Frc.
5.
SYRINGE
Draining of operative wound after excision of lipoma from the neck. The fixation of the drain is flexible and is comfortable for the patient to carry.
A simple inexpensive suction drain can be composed of common, disposable and sterile elements which are to be found in the immediate reach of every surgeon (Fig. I): A 20 ml disposable syringe; A three-way stopcock;* An umbilical or suction catheter or a thin feeding tube; all are sterile and in every hospital; A stainless steel spring, 95 mm long, made of stainless steel wire 2 mm in with 12 coils and an internal diameter of 24 mm. Such springs can be ordered at every hardware shop; they must be sterilised before use and be disposable.
available diameter found or may not
After some extra holes are made in it, the drainage tube is inserted and the surgeon prepares the drainage syringe by installing the sterile spring over the piston which is then returned back into its cylinder and when pushed in compresses the spring between the piston’s head and the cylinder (Fig. 2). The “loaded” syringe is then connected to the drain by opening the cock (Fig. 3). The cock allows the surgeon to disconnect the syringe or to empty its contents without disconnecting the whole system and losing the vacuum created inside the drained area, thus avoiding the intrusion of germs into the wound (Fig. 4). The capacity of this system, compared to 3 other commercially available closed draining systems, shows a definite stronger suction power, a better efficiency ratio total volume : effective suction volume, and a smaller suction volume. We found that a suction volume of I 5 ml is fairly adequate for operations such as musculocutaneous flaps, lipectomy, removal of lipoma, mammaplasty and surgery of the hand, foot or neck. The described device is easy to mount, comfortable for the patient to carry (Fig. j), easy for the nurse to empty and what is often forgotten, cheap.
* “Pharmaseal
K-75a cock.”
DRAINAGE
SYRINGE:
A SIMPLE VACUUM
METHOD DRAINAGE
FOR
CLOSED
ACTIVE
By LIOR ROSENBERG,M.D. and DAN MAHLER, M.D. Department of Plastic Surgery, Soroka University Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel ONE of the main criteria for good primary healing is avoiding the accumulation of exudates and blood into operated cavities. Adequate drainage is often essential and “active drainage”. i.e. a drain that “sucks” the exudates from the operated area is the most efficient. Alas, the cost of a good “active drain” is sometimes the reason that surgeons do not use them in relatively small operations.
FIG.
I.
The
components
of the drainage syringe: A, Spring; B, Cylinder; stopcock; E, Draining catheter. FIG. 2.
Compressing
C, Piston;
D, Three-way
the drainage syringe.
FIG. 3.
The use of 2 sets of drainage syringes in a case of gynaecomastia. position.)
FIG. 4.
Emptying
(Note the stopcock’s
the blood from the syringe can be achieved without disconnecting just by turning the stopcock’s handle. 114
handle
the whole apparatus,
DRAINAGE
Frc.
5.
SYRINGE
Draining of operative wound after excision of lipoma from the neck. The fixation of the drain is flexible and is comfortable for the patient to carry.
A simple inexpensive suction drain can be composed of common, disposable and sterile elements which are to be found in the immediate reach of every surgeon (Fig. I): A 20 ml disposable syringe; A three-way stopcock;* An umbilical or suction catheter or a thin feeding tube; all are sterile and in every hospital; A stainless steel spring, 95 mm long, made of stainless steel wire 2 mm in with 12 coils and an internal diameter of 24 mm. Such springs can be ordered at every hardware shop; they must be sterilised before use and be disposable.
available diameter found or may not
After some extra holes are made in it, the drainage tube is inserted and the surgeon prepares the drainage syringe by installing the sterile spring over the piston which is then returned back into its cylinder and when pushed in compresses the spring between the piston’s head and the cylinder (Fig. 2). The “loaded” syringe is then connected to the drain by opening the cock (Fig. 3). The cock allows the surgeon to disconnect the syringe or to empty its contents without disconnecting the whole system and losing the vacuum created inside the drained area, thus avoiding the intrusion of germs into the wound (Fig. 4). The capacity of this system, compared to 3 other commercially available closed draining systems, shows a definite stronger suction power, a better efficiency ratio total volume : effective suction volume, and a smaller suction volume. We found that a suction volume of I 5 ml is fairly adequate for operations such as musculocutaneous flaps, lipectomy, removal of lipoma, mammaplasty and surgery of the hand, foot or neck. The described device is easy to mount, comfortable for the patient to carry (Fig. j), easy for the nurse to empty and what is often forgotten, cheap.
* “Pharmaseal
K-75a cock.”
