clots coming from stitches

[kk0513]

i had hernia surgery 8/14 and i have been totally swollen and bleeding from my stitches i went to the hospital about 5 days ago they said that it was just dead blood that had to come out will stop in about 2 days (alot of blood) then they called me 2 days later said i had an infection my fault for not asking what kind now im still bleeding and still swollen not as much but clots are coming out of my operation site a little streaked with white pus my husband wants to take me to the er again what do i do its now 3 weeks later and my stitches still have not healed do i go to the er

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hello -

While surgery (and especially abdominal surgeries) can sometimes result in a collection of "dead" blood (plethora), which can be expressed as you describe, the greater problem is the fact that this collection of blood can provide a medium for bacteria and lead to infection. I hope you have been to the ER by now and had the site drained and were put on antibiotic therapy. This sort of thing can sometimes drag on for a while, and may, depending on the microbe causing the infection, actually be stubborn enough to require IV antibiotics or surgery to remove damaged tissue. Hopefully this is not the case, but antibiotics at the very least would seem to be indicated to avoid possible additional surgery and hospitalization.

Best of luck to you. Please keep us updated.