Had Bascom's Procedure For Sinus. Now Oozing Out Puss. Should I Be Worried?

Posted on Tue, 30 Jul 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 Answered on

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : This is for a colorectal surgeon. I've had the Bascom's procedure for a pilonidal sinus 8 days ago. I went in for a change of dressing today and the nurse, who admitted she'd never seen one 'sewed up' diligently squeezed and prodded one of the pits that had been sutured and was oozing a bit 'to get all the gunk out'. I'm really worried that she simply did not know how the Bascoms op works as opposed to an open excision which is all she has seen and that she may have destroyed the fat buttress the surgeon created. And it hurts too. Am I right to be worried? If yes, I will arrange to see my surgeon.

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (22 minutes later)

Hello!

Thank you for the query.
How much of the excretion were out in the last 24 hours?
Its 8 days after your surgery. So the amount of excretion from the wound should be decreasing. Removing a drain should not cause any harm to your wound and should not disturb healing process. Wound always produces a gunk which gets removed by immune cells with bloodstream. If it is not much of it, no drainage is necessary.

I suggest you to have your wound under observation. If any redness, tenderness or pain will appear, you should consult your surgeon. Otherwise, the wound should be fine.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar