In 1997, over 500,000 men and women in the United States had surgery involving post-operative drains. Following the surgery, these drains were taped, pinned or just dangled from the patient's bodies during their 1-5 day stay in the hospital. What was even more disconcerting was that the drains remained unsecured during the trip home and for 3-5 days of home stay. Since the initiation of shorter hospital stays, drain problems have been a more frequent patient complaint While in the hospital, the drains are either pinned to the hospital gown or to the bandage and/or tapped to the patient's sensitive skin. The concern and anxiety of how and where to secure drains increases during the home stay waiting period before returning to the doctors office for removal.

What cancer survivor Barbara Norton Ekey did to solve this problem was to invent the DRAIN DUO, a system which comfortably holds the post-surgical drains in place with care. Since it's creation the DRAIN DUO has been successfully used immediately after abdominal, thoracic, neck and head surgery. Responses to the 1998-1999 UPMC protocol study proved extremely positive. Over 90% of the patients surveyed found the latex-free DRAIN DUO extremely helpful in increasing mobility, eliminating the pulling and tugging of their post-surgical drains.