Nokea
A 44-year-old male client had abdominal surgery this morning. The nurse noticed a small amount of bloody drainage on the client's surgical dressing. This type of drainage is:
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Drainage from a surgical incision is initially sanguineous (red), proceeding to serosanguineous (pink), then to serous (straw-colored). Purulent drainage usually indicates infection. This drainage should not be seen initially from a surgical incision. An incision with a Penrose drain may be expected to have a moderate amount of serosanguineous drainage in the first 24 hours, but in general drainage from a surgical incision is initially sanguineous (red), proceeding to serosanguineous (pink), then to serous (straw-colored). Catarrhal is a type of exudate seen in upper respiratory infections, not in surgical incisions.