A Randomized Blinded Trial of Abscess Management With Packing vs No Packing

Lawson Health Research Institute

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Uncomplicated Cutaneous Abscess

Treatments

Procedure: Packing vs No Packing

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT01698996

102928

Details and patient eligibility

About

Adult patients presenting to the emergency department with superficial cutaneous abscesses will be randomized after incision and drainage to standard care with wound packing or no packing to determine if there is a difference in the proportion of complications between the two groups.

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

≥ 18 years
Abscess ≤ 5cm in diameter
Truncal or extremity location

Exclusion criteria

Post-operative abscess (abscess in location of operative incision, operation within the last 4 months)
HIV/immunocompromised/transplant recipient/chronic oral steroid use
Fever at triage (temp ≥38 degrees Celsius)
Abscess secondary to Crohn's
Multiple abscesses requiring drainage
Prior participation in the study for the same abscess
Incision and drainage performed with no packing required, or where abscess cavity is <1 cm max diameter
Bartholins/perigenital, perianal, or facial abscesses
Complicated abscesses (fistula, suspicion of muscular extension, consultation/direct referral to general surgery)
Inability to give consent