To Drain or not to Drain? The Role of Drainage in the Contaminated and Infected Abdomen: An International and Personal Perspective

Excerpt

The history of abdominal drainage is as old as the history of surgery [1]. However, abdominal drainage has always been a subject of controversy, practiced in confusion and subjected to local dogmas. Hence, a hundred years ago there were ardent enthusiasts for drainage, like Robert Lawson Tait (1845–1899), who stated: “When in doubt drain!” There were also the skeptics, like J. L. Yates (1905), who understood that “Drainage of the general peritoneal cavity is a physical and physiological impossibility.” And, as always, there were the undecided, as described by Joseph Price (1853–1911): “There are those who ardently advocate it, there are those who in great part reject it, there are those who are lukewarm concerning it, and finally, some who, without convictions, are either for or against it … as chance or whim, not logic may determine.” …