2 days of draining enough?

[GlandMan]

I am scheduled to have surgery on a Wednesday and the Dr. said he usually leaves drains in place for 3-5 days. The only issue is that the 3-5 days falls on the weekend so I would have to have them in for 6 days which means being uncomfortable and not being able to shower for almost an entire week. I asked if I could possibly have them removed on Friday to avoid this and he said it probably wouldn't be a problem.

Is 2 days of draining too short?

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

It all depends on the amount of drainage.  If you are still draining a fair amount after two days, then the drains should remain. And you should remain on antibiotics while the drain is in place.

In my practice, I use a drain in perhaps one in 100 cases.  And usually I can get that drain out in 1-2 days - but that is my practice.

Dr Jacobs

[DrPensler]

All cases are different.I rarely use a drain. If there is not a tremendous amount of excess skin it typically is not a problem.This is something you should explore with your surgeon.

[Dr. Schuster]

Let your surgeon make the final decision. I do not use drains for 80% of my patients and don't have problems. It also depends on the exact techniques used.