Study of Wound Packing After Superficial Skin Abscess Drainage

Summary

Superficial skin and soft tissue abscess are frequently managed by opening them up with a procedure called "incision and drainage". It is routine practice in the United States to place packing material inside the abscess cavity after opening them up, in order to promote better wound healing and limit abscess recurrence. However, this practice has never been systematically studied or proven to decrease complications or improve healing. Patients with wound packing usually return to the emergency room or practice setting for multiple "wound checks" and dressing/packing changes which lead to missed days from work or school and utilization of healthcare resources. This procedure can often be painful and may even require conscious sedation (and the risks entailed) especially in children. With rates of superficial skin and soft tissue abscesses on the rise, and emergency room resources being stretched, it is important to determine whether packing wounds is necessary or even advantageous to patients.

This study is the first to systematically evaluate the efficacy of wound packing after superficial skin or soft tissue abscess incision and drainage in children. The investigators will be evaluating wound healing, complications, recurrence and pain associated with packing both short and long term. In addition, the investigators will also be evaluating the utility of bedside point-of-care ultrasound use in predicting the presence of pus inside the abscess cavity. This test may be useful to determine whether incision and drainage is necessary for an individual who has a skin infection that is suspicious for an abscess.

Conditions

• Abscess
• Skin Diseases, Infectious
• Boils
• Furuncle
• Carbuncle
• Folliculitis
• Cellulitis
• Wounds

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Wound packing

1/4" non-iodoform packing loosely placed inside abscess cavity.

PROCEDURE

NoPacking

This is a routine incision and drainage procedure but without the use of packing. Sterile gauze dressing will be placed over the abscess cavity.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• NYU Langone Health

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

1 Year

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2008-09-30

Primary Completion

2010-01-31

Completion

2010-03-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations