Table 1.

Average drainage time in days as a function of type of collection, drain size, and attending type. Larger tubes do not reduce drainage time.

Collection type	Num.	Average drainage time (days)
		Initial tube size				Attending type
		≤ 8 F	10 F	≥ 12 F	p	Small tube	Big tube	p
all	144	21	29	32	0.26	26	29	0.61
thin	39	21	32	32	0.36	25	30	0.49
thick	100	22	29	32	0.63	28	29	0.95
small	51	15	24	13	0.50	21	18	0.72
medium	48	26	30	26	0.91	28	29	0.97
large	45	31	33	44	0.52	34	36	0.79
large and thick	30	n/a	34	45	0.35	28	41	0.32
fistula to bowel	14	31	35	63	0.34	25	52	0.07