Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

2-11-2026

Comments

Presented at the 2026 Scholarly Inquiry (SI) Research Project Symposium.

Abstract

Introduction: The Jackson-Pratt (JP) drain has been used post-mastectomy since 1980; however, little research has been done regarding the quality of life (QOL) associated with drains. How might we help JP drain patients following mastectomy have increased QOL during drain use? We hypothesize that specific drain placement locations relative to anatomical body wall landmarks correlate with QOL.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of thirty female sex patients undergoing breast mastectomy or reconstruction needing bilateral drains and excludes patients with significant confounding variables that interfere with pain data. The surgeon measures the JP drain location after placement in the operating room, which is normalized and plotted to create a heat map of drain locations. Pain data, collected post-op using a validated pain questionnaire, are superimposed on the heat map.

Results: Initial results reflect that JP drain placement medially to the anterior axillary line is associated with less pain. In contrast, placement directly on or laterally to the anterior axillary line is associated with increased pain. These preliminary results suggest that more lateral drain placement negatively impacts QOL.

Discussion/Conclusions: An emerging pattern of pain scores correlating with specific locations of JP drain placement on the body wall is promising. Utilizing this growing dataset and heatmap to correlate drain placement and QOL metrics can inform surgical guidelines. The implications of this quality improvement research could improve patient QOL. By highlighting the gap in research on breast surgery QOL outcomes, we aim to encourage further research in this population.

Language

English

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