[Delayed-action drainage. A device for the reduction of postoperative blood loss in surgery of the spine].

A new type of surgical drain is presented. Its purpose is to avoid excessive blood loss after operations on the spine while enabling residual haematomas to be drained later on. The drain consists of a plastic tube containing a flexible mandrel of synthetic material which ensures complete and watertight obturation of the tube. Subsequently, the mandrel can be removed, living the drain in situ for aspiration. The drain is introduced as any other aspiration drain; it is obturated for 5 days and then removed after being put under a vacuum for 5 hours. This device has been used in surgical operations of the Cotrel-Dubousset type performed on the spine; it avoided major postoperative blood loss and enabled most transfusion procedures to be successfully carried out without secondary blood collections.