A nurse is assessing a 33-year-old patient who underwent a cholecystectomy 18 hours prior. The nurse notes 500 mL of greenish-brown fluid has drained from the T-tube postoperatively. The nurse should
chart these findings and reassess on the next rounding.
call the physician and report the drainage.
flush and irrigate the tube.
chart these findings and indicate an infection is suspected.
Number 1 is correct.
Normal post-operative drainage after a cholecystectomy is 500 – 1,000 mL/day. Immediately after surgery, the drainage will be sanguineous, but then turn to a greenish-brown color. The nurse’s assessments of the patient’s drainage are normal, expected findings. There is no need to call the physician, and an infection would not be suspected. Here, the tube does not need to be flushed.
