Its been nearly 4wks since my debriedment and I still have heavy drainage. According to my nurse, the wound has not closed any. Is this to be expected? What has been the experience of others? I have followed the doctors orders to the letter and yet no progress. Am I expecting too much in a short period of time?


FRUSTRATED/BORDERLINE HOPELESS

my surgical site would not close for a good month and a half and all the while i had drainage... but mine was due to an MRSA infection.

just to rule one thing out, i say you should go for a blood and urine bacteria culture to see if you have any infections.

What type of dressing are you using and how often is it being changed? Do you/did you have any infection? I am not going to tell you to go against your doctor's orders, but I will give you my experience. Tom was sent home from rehab with a 2cm x 3cm Stage IV pressure sore and was prescribed the standard 2x/day wet-to-dry gauze dressing. After 2 months of faithfully following this, it hadn't changed a bit. I got frustrated so I started cautiously experimenting with the more advanced hydrocolloid dressings (Duoderm, Tegaderm, Coloplast etc). There are a myriad to choose from but they are pricey. But after one application of Coloplast Comfeel the change was amazing - it had started to close and fill in. It still has a little ways to go, but he got the go-ahead from his plastic surgeon that it looks great and no flap surgery will be needed.

The advantage of the more advanced dressings is that they can be left in place for several days but you must be careful...a lot can change in a few days. My opinion is that gauze dressing is prescribed because it's cheap and familiar, but in the long run it may be much more expensive.

However, Tom's wound was not huge and he never had a lot of exudate (draining) so I felt relatively safe in going against the prescribed method. And I never leave these on more than 2 days.

These wounds are frustrating, for sure. They have their own timeline and what works for one person may not work for another. But at least ask your doc about alternatives. Good luck!

-Janet

Drainage is good,,, but not if it's left in the wound,,, that's why the wound vac system is used. It pulls the fluid away,,, keeping the area from getting maserated.

As often as I metion it, one would think I had stock in the company,,,,, I don't,,, just a satisfied customer.
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