Efficacy of closed suction drainage in lower limb arterial surgery: a meta-analysis of published clinical trials.

Background: Suction drains are widely used in vascular surgery, despite the absence of specific evidence that they confer benefit to patients. There has been no systematic review of the available evidence, though drainage has been shown to confer no benefit, or indeed harm, across a variety of surgical disciplines. Accordingly, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current evidence base for closed suction drainage following surgical lower limb revascularization was undertaken.

Methods: Medline, Embase, trial registries, conference proceedings, and article reference lists were searched to identify randomized controlled trials of the use of surgical drains. The primary outcomes were wound infection, seroma/lymphocele formation, and hematoma formation. Pooled odds ratios were calculated for categorical outcomes.

Results: Four trials containing 429 groin wounds were eligible for inclusion. There was no significant effect on wound infection, seroma/lymphocele formation, or hematoma formation.

Conclusion: Our meta-analysis suggests that no benefit is conferred by wound drainage following lower limb revascularization. The practice incurs avoidable expense and should not be routinely used.