I had my J-tube and G-tube implanted just over a month ago. At various points in time, the area around them has been red and very painful. In the hospital, they just said that it was from the drainage, and to change the dressings frequently. Now, here I am, am the area underneath the plastic/rubber-type disk that they have holding the tube in place on the outside... is very red. I changed the dressings early this morning and then when I woke up, I changed them again. This time, there was a thick yellow... almost jello type consistency of gunk under the j-tube disk, and of course the skin is red as can be....
How do you decipher between, what my docs say is, "NORMAL" drainage, from something that needs to be examined?
I don't want to just hop in line at the ER... just b/c I don't know what is going on. I have some sort of Stomadhesive, some powder stuff, etc... I am going to try these, as this is what they did in the hospital.
If anyone has any thoughts on what is going on... I'd greatly apreciate the feedback.
Thanks,
Megan
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J-tube infection? How do you know?
- By mekmoore
- Posted November 1, 2009 at 11:46 am · 8 replies
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- By stekcsf
- Posted November 1, 2009 at 12:49 pm
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My daughters usally gets a swollen lump above her sight, the discarge is always there and sometimes nasty, redness comes and goes as with granulation tissue. But when she gets this swollen lump I take her in. Usally I wait and see the GI DR. and sometimes for regular ped. will perscribe something, now that we know what an infection lookslike. Nasty gunk is normal for her and the redness. When she 1st got the tube i remember calling in many times, it's hard to tell at first, and often in the beginning I think the DR. should look at it.
the powdwer worked, sometimes.....canging the dressing as much as you can......and he gave her a cream to put on it that helped......maybe someone else knows that name......
tricia
- By macbeth719
- Posted November 3, 2009 at 6:48 pm
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Calmoseptine is a good cream to use. If there is odor, that is the best indication of an infection. Hot red areas can also be indications of infections as well as a low grade fever. Yellow junk can be "normal" but, again, if it smells, see a doctor. I change my dressing once a day and never is there more drainage than half a 2x2 gauze. Itching can be a sign of a fungal infection. It is hard to differentiate between normal and infection but you will get to learn what is "normal" for you. At first, I panicked at every little drainage until I got comfortable with it. Try to pull the plastic bumper away from the skin a bit to see if that helps with the redness. When in doubt, have it checked out.
Good luck
Teresa
- By Novagrad
- Posted November 4, 2009 at 4:38 pm
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Meghan:
I have had multiple j-tube infections. Most of them ended up in my bloodstream because the balloon had disturbed the mucosal lining of the jejunum. There will always be some red granulation tissue. That is your body's way of trying to heal the stoma. It's normal so don't worry about that. I have a PEG tube that has a j-tube in it now. The stomach is much stronger than the jejunum and I have not had to worry about the site. The greenish drainage from the stomach is normal. It does not necessarily smell horrible. When I had j-tube infections, I had very foul-smelling green drainage. It was more of a bright green, not stomach green. My doctor always cultured it and it always grew something that also ended up in my bloodstream.
Mimi
- By mekmoore
- Posted November 5, 2009 at 1:17 am
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I am draining a TON of yellow drainage from my j-tube site. I put, like, 2-3 4x4's on it and then end up changing it at LEAST 3 times/day, if not more. Tonight, I took off the 4x4's to take a shower and I didn't even make it 2 steps before I had yellow drainage just dripping from the j-tube site down my abdomen.
I have the red and BURNING skin around both sites, although, the J-tube site is normally worse. When I call my doc's office, of course I get his nurse. His nurse tells me that there is nothing to be concerned about and that there is no reason why 4x4's should not keep the skin healthy and dry. He said if it is red and burning that I just need to change it more frequently. This doesn't really give me any piece of mind; as it feels like he is just blowing me off to get me off the phone.
I just don't know what to do about all of this. I know some drainage is normal, and I am fine with that; but it just seems that if it is enough the merit changing this frequently plus it is killing my skin... that something else should be done...
Any thoughts?
Megan
- By Novagrad
- Posted November 5, 2009 at 4:42 pm
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Do you have fevers? If so, then definitely call them back. Does the drainage smell bad? If it does, then it may be infected. I mean really foul-smelling drainage - stuff that you can smell without holding it up to your nose!
Mimi
- By macbeth719
- Posted November 6, 2009 at 6:46 am
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I could be that the tube is not fitted properly. The tube could not be held in place with a nice fit, causing leakage out the sides. The smell is the tell tale sign here. If it smells bad, chances are there is an infection. If not, chances are it is just leakage, which could cause the redness (but could lead to infection). Try the Calmoseptine (or some other protective barrier like diaper rash ointment) to see if that helps with the irritation.
Good luck and keep changing that dressing.
Teresa
- By marycb
- Posted November 13, 2009 at 3:20 am
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Do you drain (vent) your G tube? My son can get like that when he is having a bit of a gut shut down or obstruction. Best thing for him is to let the pressure out of his G and try to drain off some excess fluid out of the G also. Helps sometimes. Good luck.
Mary
- By LizAA
- Posted November 13, 2009 at 9:46 am
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Zinc oxide is also a good healing cream to put on irritated skin. You can usually find it by the diaper rash section or ask your pharmacist. Although check first with your doctor to see if they prefer creams to ointments.
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