The efficacy of suction drainage in surgical operations of long bone fractures in orthopedics

In this experimental trial, 133 patients with single long bone fracture requiring surgery, admitted in Shahid Mohammadi hospital (Bandar Abbas/Iran) from June 2002 to April 2003, were randomly devided into 2 groups. In the first group (72 individuals), after the completion of the operation a single hemovac drain was inserted, while in the second group (61 patients) no drain was used. The 2 groups had no statistically significant difference in regard to age, sex and antibiotic use before and after the operation (P>0.05). At the end of the 6-month follow up period the difference between the 2 groups in regard to analgesic demand in the 1st post-operative 48 hours, the need for dressing change in the 1st post-operative 24 hours because, of wetness, hematoma formation and post-operative infection was not statistically significant (P>0.05). According to these results it seems that hemovac drain is not effective in these aspects.