Drainage and the color of it.....

[docpsychrn]

could someone tell me what it means when a wound has a bright green drainage to it? it's mostly serosanguenous in nature but i have noticed the increase in the bright green drainage on the dressing. also, if a person has had mrsa in a wound, will that always be positive for mrsa or does it go away? thanks.

[annaedRN, RN]

green drainage often means pseudomonas

[steelcityrn, RN]

I agree...very bright green, almost a lime green is usually pseudomonas. As far as I know, a wound can be treated with atb therapy and have a negative culture for mrsa once treated.

[Song Sparrow]

Unfortunately MRSA tends to come back. It often will clear in a specific wound but then may show up again as an absess someplace else. Also, like most staph, it tends to colonize in the nares, throat, skin folds, etc. Colonization can be transient or permanent. See the http://www.cdc.gov or go to http://www.apic.org and put MRSA in the search box.

[S.Gettes]

i agree about pseudomonads. they are a group of bacteria which are found most commonly in soil and other natural types of environments. many types of pseudomonads have been identified the one which most commonly is the cause of infection is pseudomonas aeruginosa. it is sometimes knows as a "water loving bug" due to the ability it has to grow and multiply without difficulty in the water. this is the reason behind it being found mainly in solutions which contain water and soil. pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause pneumonia (lung infections), eye infections such as keratitis and endophtalmitis, external ear infections, skin infections (folliculitis), septicaemia (blood poisoning), urinary tract infections and wound infections especially in burn wounds. depending on where the infection takes its place, the symptoms experienced can range from a localised pain, fever, swelling and discomfort when the infection is in the skin, to more severe symptoms when it is in the blood known as bacteraemia. a confirmed diagnosis can be obtained via testing of the infected samples such as pus, blood and tissue for the presence of pseudomonas aeruginosa.

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