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At there alternatives to daily packing for infected abcess. Pt has severe pain with change?
Sep 17, 2019 by Melissa Khoo,
2 replies
Elaine Horibe Song
MD, PhD, MBA
Hi Melissa, thank you for your question. Assuming that the abscess was simple and that it has already been successfully drained, and patient received/is receiving antibiotics. Among other alternatives, one alternative to wound packing following incision and drainage (I&D) is no packing. Studies have shown that wound packing does not appear to significantly impact failure or recurrence rates after simple I&D of abscesses in both adults and children.
References:
Kessler 2012 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22653459
Tonkin et al 2004 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15486749
Sørensen et al 1987 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3324596
Sep 17, 2019
Julie Lientz
MSN, MBA, RN, WCC, CWON
I would say depending on the drainage amount. If not draining a lot then it doesn't have to be packed daily. 2 time a week or M,W,F. I usually use aquacel ag rope to lightly pack the wound and a foam dressing to cover.
Sep 17, 2019
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