Sanguineous Wound Drainage
infection is present. This drainage contains white
Sanguineous wound drainage is the fresh bloody
exudate which appears when skin is breached,
whether from surgery, injury, or other cause.
Sanguineous bloody drainage is bright red and
somewhat thick in consistency, some compare to the
consistency of syrup. It can be seen during
angiogenesis in both full-thickness wounds and also in
deep partial-thickness wounds. This type of drainage
is a normal part of the inflammatory phase of wound
healing, but it should lessen considerably over time
and stop after a few hours in most instances.
Serous Wound Drainage
Serous drainage is mostly clear or slightly yellow thin
plasma that is just a bit thicker than water. It can be
seen in venous ulceration and also in partial-thickness
wounds. Generally, this is not one of the types of
wound drainage that leaves much color on a bandage.
Serous fluid contains sugars, white cells, proteins, and
other chemicals that are vital in the healing process to
move across the wound site. Therefore, serous is one
of the normal types of wound drainage and often
appears in the first 48 to 72 hours.
Seropurulent Wound Drainage
Types of wound drainage that turn cloudy, yellow, or
tan are called seropurulent and are usually a sign that
the wound is becoming colonized and treatment
changes are needed. Seropurulent wound drainage
can appear in a variety of colors including pink, grey,
yellow, tan, brown, green, or white. Color alone is not
necessarily an indicator of wound infection, but any
change from clear drainage should be noted and
examined.
Purulent Wound Drainage
Purulent drainage is not a characteristic of normal
healthy wound healing. Exudate that becomes a like a
thick, milky liquid or thick liquid that turns yellow, tan,
grey, green, or brown is almost always a sign that
blood cells, dead bacteria, wound debris and
inflammatory cells. These purulent types of wound
drainage are commonly called "pus" and often have a
foul or unpleasant smell.
PASSIVE DRAINS
Penrose Drain
These drains are most commonly used in wounds,
after surgery where dead space is present, or when
accumulation of fluid is anticipated. They work by
capillary action, gravity, overflow, or fluctuations of
pressure gradients caused by body movement.
ACTIVE DRAINS
Jackson-Pratt Drain
These are closed systems that collect fluid into a
reservoir. This reservoir prevents saturation of
bandage material, decreases the risk for ascending
infection, and can limit exposure of hospital staff or
other patients to contaminated fluid. Active drains
apply an artificial pressure gradient to pull fluid or gas
from a wound or body cavity. Negative pressure
increases the efficiency of active over passive drains,
enables placement of the drain exit in any position,
can remove fluid against gravity if necessary, and can
be used to collapse dead space. The negative
pressure of active drains can be continuous or
intermittent. Continuous negative pressure optimizes
drain function and can reduce the amount of time the
drain is in place.