Tru-Close Drain Care: Care Instructions

You've been discharged with a Tru-Close drain. A tube was placed in your cut (incision) to remove fluid. This tube is connected to a collection device with an attached bag. A bellows, the accordion-like bulb on the device, helps create gentle suction that removes fluid from the wound. This will help with healing and reduce the risk of infection.

Expect to see fluid and blood in the drain. You may also feel some burning and pulling from the stitch that holds the tube in place. There is a bandage over the site where the tube is. This is to protect the open area from infection. Your doctor will remove the drain when they determine you no longer need it. Here's what you need to do to care for your Tru-Close drain.

• Don't sleep on the same side as the tube.
• Secure the tube and bag inside your clothing with a safety pin. This helps keep the tube from being pulled out. The bag should be placed below the level of the drainage site.
• You can move around normally, but avoid vigorous activity that might pull on the drain.
• Ask your doctor when you can return to exercise and your normal activities.

• Wash your hands before and after touching the drain. If someone is helping you, have that person wear clean, non-sterile gloves after washing their hands.
• Keep the insertion site clean and dry.
• Talk with your doctor about bathing or showering with the drain. You may need to keep the bandage and tube site dry when you shower. Ask your doctor about the best way to do this.
• Check the insertion site daily for redness, increased pain, or drainage around the tube.
• If you are to change the dressing around the tube, follow the directions your doctor has given you. Some dressings may not need to be changed, but your doctor will let you know, so follow their specific instructions. Here are some general steps to follow:
  • Wash your hands.
  • Remove the old bandage.
  • Wash your hands again.
  • Gently clean the skin around the incision and tube site as instructed.
  • Put a new bandage on the incision and tube site. Make the bandage large enough to cover the whole incision area.
  • Tape the bandage in place.

• Empty the collection container when it is about one-quarter full. You will be shown how to do this before you go home.
• You may need to “strip” the tube. This helps keep blood clots from blocking the tube. Ask your doctor how often you should strip the tube. Stripping may not be needed, depending on where and why your doctor placed the tube. It may even be dangerous in some cases.
  • Hold the tubing firmly where it leaves the skin, with one hand. This keeps it from pulling on the skin.
  • Pinch the tubing with the thumb and first finger of your other hand.
  • Slowly and firmly pull your thumb and first finger down the tubing. You may find it helpful to hold an alcohol swab between your fingers and the tube to lubricate the tubing.
  • If the pulling hurts or feels like the tube is coming out of the skin, stop. Begin again more gently.
• Record the amount of fluid and its color each time you empty it. Include the date and time it was emptied. Bring this record to your follow-up appointments.

• Press the bellows completely flat. The fluid in the bellows will be pushed into the bag or container, and the suction will be re-activated. As the bellows expands, it creates a gentle suction.
• Make sure the tubing is not kinked or blocked.

• It is important to keep the device clean. Follow your doctor's instructions on how to do this.
• Keep the drain dry. Do not submerge the drain in water, such as in a bathtub or swimming pool, unless your doctor says it is safe.

Contact your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:

• You have a fever.
• You have chills.
• You have nausea and vomiting.
• You have increased redness, warmth, or swelling around the drain site.
• There is pus or foul-smelling drainage from the insertion site.
• The incision doesn't seem to be healing.
• Your stitches become loose or the drain starts to come out.
• The tube falls out or breaks.
• There is a sudden increase in the amount of drainage.
• The drainage changes from light pink to dark red.
• You have severe pain at the drain site.
• The drain stops working or loses suction.