Abscess Packing Versus Wick Placement After Incision and Drainage

NCT ID: NCT01281930

Last Updated: 2018-06-19

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 156 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2015-11-30

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.

Conditions

Superficial Abscess Packing

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Wick placement into abscess cavity

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Wick placement into abscess cavity

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

After incision and drainage of the abscess a piece of plain gauze 1/4-1 inch packing material that is as wide as can be easily passed through the opening is placed into the cavity spanning one diameter of the cavity

Full packing of abscess cavity

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Full packing into abscess cavity

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

After incision and drainage plain 1/4-1/2 inch gauze packing material is placed into the cavity to fill it

Interventions

Full packing into abscess cavity

After incision and drainage plain 1/4-1/2 inch gauze packing material is placed into the cavity to fill it

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Wick placement into abscess cavity

After incision and drainage of the abscess a piece of plain gauze 1/4-1 inch packing material that is as wide as can be easily passed through the opening is placed into the cavity spanning one diameter of the cavity

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 6 Months
• Maximum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Washington University School of Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

St. Louis Children's Hospital

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

09-0719 -201103241

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id