Effects and Side Effects of Abdominal Drainage

Abstract

After about 30 experiments in animals Yates [7] concluded that most of the serous exudate of an abdominal drain is caused by its own foreign-body reaction, that there is draining inward as well as outward, and that abdominal drains usually will seal off within 24 h. In 1905 he wrote: “There is probably no detail in modern surgical pathology that deserves more thorough comprehension, but which is less definitely understood by the average teacher, practitioner, and student than the nature of the reaction of the peritoneum to drainage”. Meanwhile modern and well-tolerated materials should reduce the foreign-body effect and allow better drainage function.