Comparison between low and high pressure suction drainage following axillary clearance

Aim: We report the comparison of low (Exudrain) and high pressure (Redivac) drains in 69 patients following mastectomy and axillary clearance. Methods: Volume of drainage was recorded daily for 8 days postoperatively. Results: Comparison of daily drainage revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups of patients (P>0.05). There were no complications specific to the drains and we found similar numbers of infective complications in both groups. Hospital stay was also similar in the two groups (P=0.70).Conclusions: We conclude that the two drainage systems are equally effective in their drainage abilities although use of the low pressure may have an advantage over the high pressure system as it obviates the need for bottle changes and therefore requires less time and effort to manage.