Abscess Packing Versus Wick Placement After Incision and Drainage

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Superficial Abscess Packing
• Interventions: Procedure: Full packing into abscess cavity; Procedure: Wick placement into abscess cavity

• Registration Number: NCT01281930
• Lead Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine

Brief Summary

Abscesses or "boils" are becoming more common every year and are a common reason children come to the Emergency Department. For the abscess to heal the skin needs to be opened to let the pus come out. Often doctors put something called "packing material" or gauze into the abscess space to help aid in healing. It is not known if the type of "packing" that is done is necessary or if a more simple treatment is as good or better. With informed consent we randomly place a child into one (1) of two (2) groups in this study that will say if the child's abscess/boil is packed with gauze in the traditional way or if a wick (small piece) of gauze is placed after the abscess/boil is opened and the fluid is drained. After treatment in the emergency department the child will be scheduled to follow-up in the Pediatric Acute Wound Service (PAWS) clinic as all other children with this infection are scheduled. At this visit the healing of the wound will be checked by the staff in the clinic and will be scored. With this evaluation of the wound the hypothesis that for a simple superficial (skin) abscess/boil a gauze wick placement into the abscess/boil is as effective as placement of traditional gauze packing.

Detailed Description

Not available

Basic Information
|
Recruitment & Eligibility
|
Study & Design
|
Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2009-06
• Study First Submitted: 2011-01-20
• Study First Submitted QC: 2011-01-20
• Study First Posted: 2011-01-24
• Primary Completion: 2015-11
• Study Completion: 2015-11
• Status Verified: 2018-06
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-06-15
• Last Update Posted: 2018-06-19

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 156

Inclusion Criteria

• Well appearing patient
• Abscesses restricted to the superficial areas of the extremities, buttocks, abdominal and thoracic walls, and back
• Patients presenting Saturday-Wednesday

Read More

Exclusion Criteria

• Fever >38 degrees celsius
• Ill appearing patient
• Underlying immunodeficiency or disorder leading to chronic abscess formation
• Any reason for admission to hospital beyond the need for sedation at the time of follow-up
• Thursday-Friday

Read More

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Full packing of abscess cavity	Full packing into abscess cavity	-
Wick placement into abscess cavity	Wick placement into abscess cavity	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Abscess healing based upon clinical criteria and clinical judgement	24-72 hours	Abscesses are assessed for pus accumulation, erythema from the wound, if the patient has a fever and the overall clinical judgment of the evaluating health care professional at the time of follow-up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Parent/guardian comfort with removing the packing material or wick from the abscess cavity	24-72 hours
Parent/guardian assessment of the abscess wound at 2 weeks	2 weeks
Need for further treatment of same abscess within 2 weeks	2 weeks
Parent/guardian assessment of pus drainage at 2 weeks	2 weeks
Pain since abscess drainage	24-72 hours

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

St. Louis Children's Hospital; 🇺🇸 Saint Louis, Missouri, United States