Which drain is a passive post-op drain?

• A. Penrose
• B. Hemovac
• C. Jackson-Pratt
• D. T-tube

Answer: (A)

Passive drains operate without suction; they rely on gravity to move fluid from the wound to an external outlet. The Penrose drain fits this perfectly: it’s a soft, open-ended tube left in the surgical site with its exit through the skin, so drainage occurs by gravity into the surrounding environment without any suction device or collection canister. It’s the classic example of a passive post-operative drain.

In contrast, Hemovac and Jackson-Pratt are closed suction drains. They actively pull drainage from the wound using negative pressure generated by a suction bulb or canister, so they’re not passive. The T-tube is a specialized biliary drain used after certain abdominal surgeries and, while it can drain by gravity into a collection bag, its primary role is duct drainage rather than a simple wound drain, which is why it isn’t the representative passive drain in this context.