Discharge Instructions: Caring for Your Abscess Drainage Catheter 

You are going home with an abscess drainage catheter in place.  An abscess drainage catheter removes fluid from around an incision. This helps prevent infection and promotes healing. This sheet provides information for care after the procedure and for your catheter.  Follow the steps and guidelines below to care for the catheter.

Home care

• Do not take aspirin, ibuprofen, Motrin, Aleve, Goody's or BC's for 3 days after the procedure.
• If you received anesthesia or any type of sedation, follow these instructions for the first 24 hours after the procedure.
• Do not drive or operate heavy machinery. You will need someone else to drive you home.
• Do not drink any alcohol.
• Do not make any important decisions or sign legal documents.
• Have someone stay with you.

Caring for your abscess drainage catheter

• Empty your drainage bulb, also called a JP bulb, before it gets full.  Follow the steps below.
• Do not take baths, soak in a hot tub, or go swimming.
• Shower as needed, but cover the tube and the area around it with plastic wrap taped in place.
• Flush the catheter 1-2 times per day.  Follow the steps below.
• Change your dressing every 3 days, or more often if it becomes wet, dirty, or loose. Follow the steps below.
• Keep the drainage bulb pinned to your shirt.

Draining fluid from the JP bulb

The JP bulb at the end of the tube is squeezed and plugged to create suction. The bulb should be emptied and reset when half full to maintain adequate suction. 

Gather your supplies

• Disposable gloves

• Measuring cup

• Record sheet

• Gauze

• 4" x 4" gauze pads

 To drain:

1.  Empty the bulb

• Wash your hands and put on a new pair of disposable gloves.

• Point the top of the bulb away from you and remove the stopper. See Figure 1.

• Turn the bulb upside down over a measuring cup. Squeeze the fluid into the cup. Make sure the bulb is totally empty.

• Put the cup to one side. You can record the volume of liquid in the cup after you clean and reconnect the bulb in step 2.

2.  Clean and reconnect the bulb

• Clean the top of the bulb with clean gauze if needed.

• Squeeze the bulb tight, and put the stopper back on the top. See Figure 2.

• Pin the bulb to your shirt. See Figure 3.

• Record the amount of fluid in the cup. Then, empty the cup as directed

Figure 1	Figure 2	Figure 3

Flushing the catheter

You will flush your catheter with 10 mL of normal saline 1- 2 times per day unless your provider asks you flush your catheter more often.

Gather your supplies

• 1 (10 mL) prefilled normal saline syringe or 1 syringe and 10 mL of normal saline

• 1 alcohol wipe

To flush

• Wash your hands with soap and water.
• Fill a syringe with 10mL of saline or use a 10 mL prefilled syringe.
• Remove the cap from the syringe using a twisting motion. With the cap off, remove the air from the syringe by holding the syringe open-side up and pushing the plunger slowly until the normal saline is at the top. Lay the syringe on the table. Do not allow the tip of the syringe to touch anything.
• Clean the blue cap (needleless connector) on the stopcock with an alcohol wipe for 15 to 30 seconds.
• Attach the 10 mL syringe of saline to the blue cap. See Figure 4. Hold the connector while you push and turn the syringe clockwise to lock it into position.
• Turn the stopcock toward the drainage bulb. See Figure 5.
• Push the plunger of the syringe to push 1/3 of the normal saline into the catheter, and then pause. Push in another 1/3 of the normal saline, and pause again.  Push in the rest of the normal saline into the catheter. Never pull back on the plunger. Always push forward.
• Remove the empty syringe by turning the syringe counterclockwise.  You can throw it away in your regular trash.

• Turn the stopcock back to the direction of the blue cap.  See figure 6.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Changing the dressing

You will change the dressing every 3 days following these steps.

Gather your supplies

• Q-tips
• Hydrogen Peroxide and sterile water mixture (Mix 1/2 hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 sterile water in a small cup.)
• 4" x 4" gauze pads
• Tegaderm clear plastic bandage
• Tape
• Foam anchoring device
• Plastic bag to throw away supplies

Remove the old dressing and check for problems

• Wash your hands thoroughly using mild soap and warm water.
• Remove the old dressing. Be careful not to pull on the tube.  Never use scissors around or near your catheter.  

• Check the skin around the exit site. (This is the place where the catheter leaves the body.)

  • Look for signs of infection such as swelling, bleeding, irritation, unusual or smelly drainage.

  • Look for any sores next to the exit site. Sores can form around the exit site if there is too much pressure from the tube on the skin.

Clean the site and change the dressing 

• Wash your hands again using mild soap and warm water.
• Clean around the exit site.  
  • Dip the Q-tip in the hydrogen peroxide and sterile water mixture. 
  • Use a circular motion to clean the skin.  Start at the exit site and move outward.
  • Use a clean Q-tip each time.  Do not dip a used Q-tip in the hydrogen peroxide and sterile water mixture
• Fold a 4" x 4" gauze pad in half. Slide the gauze under the tube where the catheter enters your body. Fold the gauze over the tube. See Figure 7.
• Cover the gauze with a Tegaderm clear plastic bandage. See Figure 8.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Follow-Up

Keep all follow-up appointments.

Drainage chart 

Record the amount of fluid that was in the JP bulb. Take this chart with you to your follow-up appointment.