Articles / Change in advice for abscess drainage
These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.
These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.
These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.
These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.
These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.
These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.
Skin abscesses are best treated with incision and drainage plus antibiotics, rather than just incision and drainage alone, recommends an international guideline panel in the BMJ.
After critically appraising all the current evidence, the panel found adjuvant antibiotic therapy in addition to incision and drainage of uncomplicated skin abscesses reduced the risk of treatment failure and abscess recurrence by approximately 13% compared to treatment without additional antibiotics.
In particular the randomised controlled trials included in the review, were evaluating the use of clindamycin or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) in addition to incision and drainage.
“TMP-SMX or clindamycin modestly reduces pain and treatment failure and probably reduces abscess recurrence, but increases the risk of adverse effects including nausea and diarrhoea,” they said.
RSV Update
Work Up of a Breast Lump in GP – Practical Tips and Traps
Semaglutide – Which Dose for Which Patient?
Triple Therapy in Asthma – Case Studies in Primary Care
Never
1-2 times per week
2-5 times per week
5-10 times per week
More than 10 times per week
Listen to expert interviews.
Click to open in a new tab
Browse the latest articles from Healthed.
Once you confirm you’ve read this article you can complete a Patient Case Review to earn 0.5 hours CPD in the Reviewing Performance (RP) category.
Select ‘Confirm & learn‘ when you have read this article in its entirety and you will be taken to begin your Patient Case Review.