What are the 4 types of wound drainage?

Drainage can be (1) serous (clear and thin; may be present in a healthy, healing wound), (2) serosanguineous (containing blood; may also be present in a healthy, healing wound), (3) sanguineous (primarily blood), or (4) purulent (thick, white, and pus-like; may be indicative of infection and should be cultured).

What are the different types of wound drainage?

Types of Wound Exudate

There are four types of wound drainage: serous, sanguineous, serosanguinous, and purulent. Serous drainage is clear, thin, and watery.

What does Serosanguineous drainage look like?

Serosanguineous drainage is typically thin and watery with a light red or pink hue, which is a direct consequence of the blood cells that are present in the serum. In some cases, if there are very few red blood cells in the serum, the color of serosanguineous drainage may appear a pale yellow color.

What color is normal for wound drainage?

Normal wounds have normal drainage—it's clear or there is a little bit of blood or yellow color. The amount of drainage, and the amount of blood in it, should lessen as the wound heals. Abnormal wounds look angry and have angry drainage. They get worse—more tender, more drainage, more bleeding, more swelling.

What is purulent drainage?

Purulent drainage is a sign of infection. It's a white, yellow, or brown fluid and might be slightly thick in texture. It's made up of white blood cells trying to fight the infection, plus the residue from any bacteria pushed out of the wound. There may be an unpleasant smell to the fluid, as well.

Types of Wound Drainage

What is Sanguineous drainage?

Sanguineous drainage refers to the leakage of fresh blood from an open wound. This type of drainage is bright red in color and has a syrup-like consistency.

What does Serosanguinous mean?

Serosanguineous means contains or relates to both blood and the liquid part of blood (serum). It usually refers to fluids collected from or leaving the body. For example, fluid leaving a wound that is serosanguineous is yellowish with small amounts of blood.

How do you tell if a wound is healing or infected?

After the initial discharge of a bit of pus and blood, your wound should be clear. If the discharge continues through the wound healing process and begins to smell bad or have discoloration, it's probably a sign of infection.

What color is a healing wound?

Healthy granulation tissue is pink in colour and is an indicator of healing. Unhealthy granulation is dark red in colour, often bleeds on contact, and may indicate the presence of wound infection. Such wounds should be cultured and treated in the light of microbiological results.

What does green drainage from a wound mean?

Wound drainage that has a milky texture and is gray, yellow, or green is known as purulent drainage. It could be a sign of infection. The drainage is thicker because it contains microorganisms, decaying bacteria, and white blood cells that attacked the site of the infection. It may have a strong smell too.

What is the difference between Serosanguinous and Sanguineous?

Serosanguinous drainage may also appear more red, indicating an active bleed, open wound, or hemorrhage. Sanguineous drainage: Fresh blood that comes out of the wound that is normally seen during the inflammatory phase of wound healing. It reduces gradually with time and stops in most cases after a few hours.

What color is Pseudomonas drainage?

Green: Malodorous, sweet-smelling, bright blue-green drainage is often indicative of Pseudomonas infection in the wound. This drainage may thicken and may also appear purulent, in large amounts.

What are the 3 types of drains you might see in a patient wound?

Drainage can be (1) serous (clear and thin; may be present in a healthy, healing wound), (2) serosanguineous (containing blood; may also be present in a healthy, healing wound), (3) sanguineous (primarily blood), or (4) purulent (thick, white, and pus-like; may be indicative of infection and should be cultured).

What color is Sanguineous drainage?

Sanguineous drainage is a bright red or pink color, as it mostly comprises fresh blood. The drainage is usually syrupy or a bit thicker than regular blood. This type of drainage usually occurs just after receiving a wound.

What does infected wound look like?

The surrounding area becomes red, and this area gets larger over time. The area surrounding the wound becomes swollen, tender to the touch, or painful. The wound weeps off-color or odorous fluid; this pus may be yellow, greenish, or cloudy. Red streaks spread out from the site of the wound.

Why is my wound turning black?

Dry gangrene occurs when the blood supply to tissue is cut off. The area becomes dry, shrinks, and turns black. Wet gangrene occurs if bacteria invade this tissue. This makes the area swell, drain fluid, and smell bad.

What does white tissue in a wound mean?

Slough refers to the yellow/white material in the wound bed; it is usually wet, but can be dry. It generally has a soft texture. It can be thick and adhered to the wound bed, present as a thin coating, or patchy over the surface of the wound (Figure 3). It consists of dead cells that accumulate in the wound exudate.

How do you know if an infection is getting worse?

What to do if a wound is not healing?

What antibiotics treat wound infections?

What purulent means?

Definition of purulent

1 : containing, consisting of, or being pus a purulent discharge. 2 : accompanied by suppuration.

What is in serous exudate?

a fluid with a high content of protein and cellular debris that has escaped from blood vessels and has been deposited in tissues or on tissue surfaces, usually as a result of inflammation.

What does GREY pus mean?

Exudate that becomes a thick, milky liquid or a thick liquid that turns yellow, tan, gray, green, or brown is almost always a sign that infection is present. ¹. This drainage contains white blood cells, dead bacteria, wound debris, and inflammatory cells.

What is purulent drainage made of?

Types of wound drainage

Serous purulent drainage: Mainly composed of white blood cells, it is thin and pale in appearance. Serous drainage appears in the initial 48-72 hours of an injury during the inflammatory wound healing stage.

What does Pseudomonas on skin look like?

Pseudomonal cellulitis presents with a dusky red–to–bluish green skin discoloration and purulent discharge. The typical fruity or mouselike odor has been linked to pseudomonal infection. Vesicles and pustules may occur as satellite lesions. The eruption may spread to cover wide areas and cause systemic manifestations.