Bleeding from exit site

[BETTY55111]

Tonight when I was cleaning my exit site, after i had cleaned it blood trickled out, a steady stream of blood came out. i applied a little pressure to the site and it stopped. This has never happened before.
I wonder is this the beginning of an infection.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[looneytunes]

Hi Betty.  You might want to check with your medical team as an open exit site is at risk for infection.  My spouse had this happen also and they treated it with antibiotic cream and silver nitrate and after a few days it began to heal.  But I would definitely call or visit. 

Best of luck to you with this, hoping to hear it is all good!.

[BETTY55111]

I just put in a call to my nurse but I had to leave a message

[looneytunes]

Sure hoping it is an "easy" fix for you!   

[BETTY55111]

Would you do your exchange anyway? I really believe I am going to do it. I am waiting to see if the nurse calls me back

[BETTY55111]

My nurse just called and she said to do the exchange. The bleeding was probably from a scab around the opening. I did not see any scab but I do feel better.

[KICKSTART]

  Sometimes it can be a scab , that you wipe off when cleaning , so you dont always see it. Also it could be a bit of friction. I used to get it if i had been busy , moving around , bending down etc . Keep an eye out for soreness and redness and get someone to look at it if it gets like that .

[Restorer]

I haven't ever had a trickle of blood from my exit site (except when they took the stitches out), but every so often I get some blood spotting around the edge of the cuff (yes, my cuff is coming out) when I clean it. I tend to develop small scabs on the inside edge of my exit site, but they come off fairly easily and don't really bleed.

[Hanify]

Over here they tell us not to ever touch the actual bit where the tube comes out.  So, if you're like me and always have a small scab, it just sits there till it comes off of it's own accord.  Mine would bleed if I dislodged the scab.

[dwcrawford]

This is exactly how I had to learn about sex!  Just listen at the door while the grown ups talk about it!!

So What is the exit site and why does it get scabby?

[Brightsky69]

Wow...I never had a bloody exit site. I hope it's nothing serious. I always wear a belt to keep the sight supportede. Also when I clean it I tape it to the side to keep it supported while I clean it. I never, never, never let it hang free.

[KICKSTART]

This is exactly how I had to learn about sex!  Just listen at the door while the grown ups talk about it!!

So What is the exit site and why does it get scabby?

The exit site is the place where your PD catheter comes out of your side/stomach , its basically the hole in your side and like any area/wound that is open as such it gets a scab on it from time to time.

[peleroja]

The nurse is probably right about a scab.  I get scabs all the time, and they usually fall off when I am showering.  I've never had the exit site bleed, though.  Hope all is well.

[billybags]

My husband has never had a scab on his exite site. We have change the dressing every day, put bactroban on it and cover with a cosmopor plaster. I suppose that keeps it moist. What do you do in America, do you leave it uncovered?

[girliekick]

I have had infection in exit site for appx 4mo. We would think we had gotten rid of it, then It would come back. I would often have lil bit of blood, and would some times keeps the dressing damp, bc scabs would hurt and itch. I also had what looked like blood bubbles peak there lil blood bubbly heads out of the exit site, like it was trying crawl down my cath. after a day or two they would bust, bleed maybe a day then go away. before they would return the area around my cath would get hard/tough and sore.  Then It would poke its bloody head out of my exit site. I often had infection drainage during this 4 month process.

Earlier this week I went back to the surgeon who put in the cath b/c the bloody bubble had broke open my skin. The doc said I had a pus pocket that was the source of all my exit site probs. he opened it up cauterized (burned) the inside, put silver nitrate in it packed it with gauze. The hope here is if we can get the pocket to heal from the inside out then the white blood cells will stop attacking the bacteria that will inevitably grow (the pocket acts like standing water) in the pocket. Then the bleeding and infections should stop all together.  I go back next week to see how we are doing, I will let you know.

My probs w exit site didn't stop me from doing my treatments, though I did check my fluid just to make sure it was clear if I was experiencing anything new w the site.

I am not telling you any of this to scare you, but I made it a point to keep letting the nurse and doc know what was going on. They said they had seen some thing similar to this, but it was nothing to be worried about. and kept trying diff antibiotics. and batadine.   

I disagree. and feel grateful the the infection never spread. Just in case any of you fellow bleeders are experiencing the same cycles, maybe you wont have to wait 4mo, to go back to the surgeon. (I have to admit it was nice to see a surg, and them treat me w/o surgery.)

Good Luck Betty
Girl

[KICKSTART]

My husband has never had a scab on his exite site. We have change the dressing every day, put bactroban on it and cover with a cosmopor plaster. I suppose that keeps it moist. What do you do in America, do you leave it uncovered?

Im not sure what a Cosmopor dressing is , i just used a sterile one. But i think you had better double check about using Bactroban EVERY day , we were told to only use it once a week or if the site was sore.

[billybags]

Well, there you go Kickstart, I suppose all units and nurses are different. The cosmapor dressing is just a big plaster with breathing holes in it, I was just trying to be posh. As for the Bactroban, did you know you also use it for putting up your nose. So its one squirt up the nostrals and one squirt on the cathetor. Any hole will do Ha Ha.

[KICKSTART]

Yeah actually i did , i got it before i had my line put in ! But im not 100% certain , irrc the one for up your nose has something different in it , to the one you put on your exit site.

[mk]

Hello. I agree that it was probably a scab and will heal as the nurse advised with care. However once it is getting better you might try leaving it unbandaged. My skin could not handle any kind of tape so I tried leaving the exit site uncovered which one of my marvellous nurses suggested. Instead of a pd catheter band to hold the catheter in place, I cut the straps off old camesoles, wore a clean one everyday and overnight, tucked the catheter into the camesole. It stayed in place and my exit site had no problems in a year and a half on PD as well as my poor skin was much happier without any tape from bandages (or plasters) of any kind. I also liked that the camesole stretched when I sat and moved around. I also cleaned the exit site everyday with swabs provided by my clinic. I hope it is better today.

[sico]

My exit site bleeds only when a scab is dislodged prematurely. Like when the sterile gauze i use to cover it sticks and i try to remove it before showering. My nurse has told me to get some Medihoney to keep the exit site moist.
girliekick, that infection sounded nasty! Hope it's all better now.
I had to use the Bactoban up my nose when i started PD, never on the exit site though.

[BETTY55111]

The nurse was correct about the scab. It has not bleed anymore and I guess i did wipe too hard. Everything is fine. Thanks for all the info.
 I don't know what I would do without you guys.