Is there a relevance of suction drainage in non-septic wrist surgery?

INTRODUCTION: No rational argument leads to conclude to the benefit or the innocuousness of drainage in non-septic wrist surgery.

HYPOTHESIS: The goal of this study was to validate the hypothesis that for those indications drainage is unnecessary.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed 1001 consecutive cases, concerning 885 patients, 58 years old in average.

RESULTS: Out of 1001 procedures, 9 patients were operated on both sides, 145 were operated twice of which 130 for the implantation and then the removal of surgical material. None were reoperated for hematomas. Three patients were initially treated for an osteosynthesis using an anterior plate of distal radius and secondarily reoperated due to sepsis, one of them twice. The material was removed from two patients. The average time of tourniquet for those 3 osteosynthesis was significantly superior (84.33min) to the average time for the 595 other anterior distal radius plates (45.35min).

CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that suction drainage in non-septic wrist surgery is unnecessary.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III descriptive retrospective study.