{"id":157317,"date":"2026-07-16T14:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=157317"},"modified":"2026-07-16T14:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:46:07","slug":"why-some-spine-surgeries-use-a-blood-drain-while-others-do-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/07\/16\/why-some-spine-surgeries-use-a-blood-drain-while-others-do-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Some Spine Surgeries Use a blood Drain While Others Do Not"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sarath Obeysekera<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This is for patients who intend to undergo spinal decompression surgery as marketed by done surgeons in Sri Lanka<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask these questions  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A patient underwent spinal stenosis surgery at a hospital in Singapore. The surgeon performed a minimally invasive decompression at three levels: L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5. After the operation, only a dressing was applied over the wound. No drainage tube or blood collection bottle was used, and the surgical wound healed completely within five days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, another patient underwent a similar decompression surgery at a hospital in Florida, USA. In this case, the surgery involved only the L4-L5 level. After the procedure, the surgeon inserted a drainage tube connected to a collection bottle to remove blood and fluid from the surgical site. The drain was kept in place for one week and was scheduled to be removed by the surgeon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This difference often raises an important question: why would one spine surgery not require a drain, while another similar procedure does?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer usually depends on several factors. These may include the surgical technique, the amount of bleeding during the operation, the extent of tissue dissection, the surgeon\u2019s preference, and the hospital\u2019s postoperative protocol. In minimally invasive spine surgery, blood loss is often lower and the wound is smaller, so a drain may not be necessary. In other cases, especially when the surgeon expects more fluid buildup or bleeding, a drain may be placed to reduce pressure, prevent fluid collection, and lower the risk of complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important to understand that medical practice can vary between surgeons, hospitals, and countries. Some surgeons routinely use drains after spine surgery, while others avoid them unless they believe there is a clear need. Both approaches can be appropriate when based on the patient\u2019s condition and the details of the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, the use of a drain after spine surgery is not determined only by the number of spinal levels treated. It is influenced by the overall surgical plan, the patient\u2019s anatomy, the amount of bleeding, and the surgeon\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sarath Obeysekera This is for patients who intend to undergo spinal decompression surgery as marketed by done surgeons in Sri Lanka Ask these questions   A patient underwent spinal stenosis surgery at a hospital in Singapore. The surgeon performed a minimally invasive decompression at three levels: L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5. After the operation, only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sarath-obeysekera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157318,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157317\/revisions\/157318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}