Incision Site Has Discharge.. Help!

[pgammo]

Hello all,

I will be 3 weeks post op on Monday. My incision site has been healing well, but this morning I woke up and found a "wet" spot on my shirt about the size of a quarter. After examining my sternotomy incision site, I found that there is a yellow discharge coming out of the bottom area of the scar. There isn't any opening that I can see, but it seems like the discharge is literally coming out of the scar area. There is no redness and the pain is not out of the ordinary. What can this be? Have any of you experienced this?

I called my Cardio and he said that we should keep an eye on it. He told me to dress it with neosporin in the mean time, and that unless it starts to hurt or turn red, then just watch it. Is this a good recommendation? What usually happens when an infection begins? Is it fatal? I'm a little worried about it because I hate hearing the word "infection."

Heres a link with a picture of my sternal incision on it if you guys want to see it firsthand.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3215332874453.2110211.1600284957&type=1&l=4d51f23550

Thanks all and God bless!

 

[Lynlw]

I would call the surgeon and get checked, Im surprised your cardiologist didnt want you to come in and at least get it looked at or cultured since IF there is an infection they can get pretty bad pretty fast, but thats just me

 

[Bina]

Your incision scar looks great and I wouldn't be overly concerned with the slight oozing. Applying antibiotic cream is perfect.

I had a home nurse visiting twice a week for several weeks because my scar just didn't want to heal over. There was lots of leaking,
and the nurse said that my body was excreting the "gunk" that it didn't like. Since mine was worse, we washed it with sterile saline
solution, dried it well, and applied antib cream liberally.

The thing to watch out for is if the area surrounding the scar becomes red and hot, indicating a progressing infection.
Perhaps you just have a small ingrown hair that has become an irritation. Don't worry.

 

[pgammo]

Thanks a bunch, Bina. It is the strangest thing. The discharge is coming out of the scar, but I feel like my scar is healing nicely. I guess I'll wait it out and see..

 

[Roberta]

I wasn't able to get get to your link of the scar picture. I had an incision that oozed quite a bit of discharge for awhile in one area.
Various nurses were using saline on it, suggested to let it get some air to dry and covered it up a light sterile dressing...until.... One nurse who visited me ended up applying something that looked a thick sticky version of a dressing pad that soaked up the excess fluid within 48 hours. I wish I knew what it was! It really helped to dry it up.

Hope things clear up soon for you.
Glad that the incision is healing nicely. Sometimes it takes time for these things to heal.

 

[pgammo]

Roberta,

I just fixed the link. Sorry about that.

I have been dressing my scar and it seems to be discharging from a few different places. It's like a clear yellowy discharge. It's been two days and I have no redness, itchiness, or anything. I guess the scar is excreting the gunk? Not too sure.

Do you think its better to air the scar out instead of dressing it? What about if the discharge is going through my shirt by the end of the day? Just trying to figure out what I should do.

Thanks!

 

[Julian]

Are you sure its "discharge" and not just discolored blood? You incision looks okay I guess, maybe a little more yellow from bruising than I would expect but what the hell do I know I'm not a doctor. Ask the surgeon. Have you got the final stitchings pulled out yet or did they glue? Better to be safe than sorry if your concerned. Talk to the surgeon not the cardio...

 

[Roberta]

Are you sure its "discharge" and not just discolored blood? You incision looks okay I guess, maybe a little more yellow from bruising than I would expect but what the hell do I know I'm not a doctor. Ask the surgeon. Have you got the final stitchings pulled out yet or did they glue? Better to be safe than sorry if your concerned. Talk to the surgeon not the cardio...

I agree with Julian's comment and question. I would also want to see the surgeon who deals with this day in and day out who could best advise you. I also found the post op cardiac nurses very good.
Good luck with this! Hopefully, this is just normal healing.

 

[Lynlw]

Roberta,

I just fixed the link. Sorry about that.

I have been dressing my scar and it seems to be discharging from a few different places. It's like a clear yellowy discharge. It's been two days and I have no redness, itchiness, or anything. I guess the scar is excreting the gunk? Not too sure.

Do you think its better to air the scar out instead of dressing it? What about if the discharge is going through my shirt by the end of the day? Just trying to figure out what I should do.

Thanks!

Again, i personally,would call the surgeon like I said earlier, especially since it seems to be getting worse not better. Since it is over 3 weks post op "normaly" you wouldnt need any dressing now, but "normally" your incision would not be having a discharge either, almost a month post op, so I would ask someone from the surgeons ofice about dressing or what kind of care you should be doing for it too.

 

[Greg a]

I would call the surgeon and get checked, Im surprised your cardiologist didnt want you to come in and at least get it looked at or cultured since IF there is an infection they can get pretty bad pretty fast, but thats just me

My wound NEVER did show any signs of infection (did not heal rapidly) but the blood work showed the truth .....better safe than............

 

[pgammo]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I called my Cardio, Home Nurse, and Surgeon today. I also told them that I was going to go to the ER. They advised me not to go to the ER, but instead, have the home nurse come out and take a look today. The Cardio doesn't think its an infection because it only "oozes" at night. The surgeon doesn't think its an infection because I'm not running a fever, it's not red, and there are no signs of itching. I will wait to see what the nurse says today at 4pm before making a decision to go into the ER or urgent care. Other than all of this, I feel great. I have no pain, no soreness, and I can sleep on my side and almost my belly already (3 weeks post op). I have full range of motion in my arms and I can pickup my toddler fairly easily.

The "discharge" is actually a clearish liquid that looks a little like a light colored blood. It has the texture of water, so it is not thick at all. The only time it discharges is while Im asleep, and I suspect it has something to do with me sleeping on my side. Nonetheless, I will follow up immediately.

Thank you all for your input and God bless!

 

[pgammo]

Greg, you had an infection? How did they treat it? And what prompted you to get the blood work if there were no signs of infection?

 

[Greg a]

See your PMs

 

[TheGymGuy]

Peter, your picture looks just like mine.

The bottom looks like it might have a stitch that is not resolving and wants to come out. There are knots in the stitches and your body generally absorbes them just fine. For me the bottom and top knots were not absorbed and actually came out sort of like my body wanted to push them out and things looked like a larger red bumps which would have a little bit of oozing. Nothing to worry about, the body eventually pushed them out. One, I sort of pulled on and it came out and second took a while and if it did not come out after 2 weeks my surgeon said it would be easy and pain free to clip them with those little surgical suture kits / scissors that they have. I kept on messing with them which might not have been the smartest thing, but showers with soap seemed to keep my scars pretty clean and germ free.

 

[pgammo]

Thanks for the response GymGuy. I currently have one visible *dissolvable* stitch that is sticking out, so I am waiting for it to fall out or have the surgeon remove it. The home nurse just came by a couple of hours ago and she says that it does not look infected and that the oozing does not show characteristics of infection. I'm still freaking out a bit, as I have been extremely careful with my incision by keeping it clean and not picking at it.

Did you have minor oozing? What color was it? I ooze about a quarter size per day and it seems to be a very light reddish yellow color. It literally looks like clear liquid at times.

 

[Julian]

pgammo, its probably fine but I read one horror story on another valve support website run by Adam Pick about a valve patient who feared her incision was infected and had a home nurse look at it. The nurse visited a few times said the wound was fine, did some quick treatments to it and left. Long story short turns out the incision was infected and I forget the details but somehow after they ran test on the infected area turns out there were traces of germs commonly found in feces. They traced it back the home nurse probably not washing her hands after going potty. WHEN IT DOUBT GET IT CHECKED OUT. *End communication* :thumbup:

 

[TheGymGuy]

Peter, I had some clear discharge too, and it was caused by my body rejecting that knot. Seems you have same thing, go see your surgeon and him or his RN will remove the knot in 5 seconds with no pain, no pain killers, and minor discomfort if any. You will feel a bit of pull on your skin (pain level 1 on the scale of 10) and done! After this the bump will be gone and the skin will close down and heal really really fast.

 

[pgammo]

I went in to see my surgeon today. He squeezed my incision until all the clear leakage came out and eventually began to leak blood (which is a good sign, I suppose). He also pulled out a stitch that was sticking out, which hurt quite a bit. He informed me that *he doesn't believe it's an infection* but would like to have some tests done just to make sure. So, he ordered blood work and a CT scan of the chest. My follow up appointment is tomorrow and we will discuss the results. I pray it is not an infection, and if it is, I pray that it is a easily treatable one.

 

[TheGymGuy]

See, with that stitch out things will close down and heal really fast. Its not an infection do not worry. When those tests come back negative they will put you at ease.

 

[pgammo]

Thanks for the encouraging words man. I really hope that's the case. The thought of infection freaks me out more than the OHS.

The surgeon did say that he believes my scar is excreting the fatty gunk. So lets pray that that is all it is.

God bless!