I’ve posted a series of videos that show the rate at which lymphatic fluid will drip out of even very small wounds. Watch closely and you can see the fluid pooling in these wounds and then, in many cases, dripping down. I have a LOT of these videos! This is lymphatic fluid and there are a lot of reasons why this is happening. (See this entry showing the lymphatic malfunction that occurs with venous insufficiency, imaged with near infrared imaging: Watch This Video of Lymphatic Dysfunction in Venous Disease! | Caroline Fife M.D. (carolinefifemd.com)
This constant dripping is why 70% of chronic wounds need dressings as absorptive as a baby diaper. I figured there must be some way to estimate the fluid being lost, and I found this handy drip calculator intended to educate consumers about how much water is wasted from a leaky faucet. Well, these wounds are a leaky faucet. Lots of patients have more than one leaky faucet like this, and in some of these videos, there’s clearly more than 1 drip a minute. However, one drip a minute is 13 oz of fluid a day (0.4 liters).
Can you estimate the fluid lost from these wounds, based on the drip rate in the videos?
Drip calculator: How much water does a leaking faucet waste? USGS Water Science School
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
The opinions, comments, and content expressed or implied in my statements are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of Intellicure or any of the boards on which I serve.
