Are Drains Necessary In Cosmetic Surgery?

Added on 16th January 2020

The use of drains for cosmetic surgery has been a traditional way of reducing the amount of fluid that is produced on a surgical site. 

Are the drains for cosmetic surgery necessary?

From years of experience within the industry, it has been found that over time in the past 5 to 10 years drains for cosmetic surgery haven’t been necessary. It can be extremely uncomfortable for patients during the process of removing drains, particularly when patients have gone through breast and abdominal surgery procedures. This is because patients are required to use compression garments to maintain the results of their procedure and drains can actually hinder the use of these due to the pain that they feel.

Do the drains hurt patients?

We have found that patients find the drains rather uncomfortable considering that they’ve just gone through a surgical procedure, particularly in the early phases. Overall, they find them rather difficult to immobilize and prefer not to have them in place.

Are there any risks to using drains for cosmetic surgery?

There hasn’t been any found evidence to suggest there is any additional risk to using drains but they can be a source of infection. We do find that patients find their mobility quicker when drains aren’t used and without them, we haven’t witnessed any additional problems when conducting various surgical procedures where they may be required.

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