ArticleCureus2022
Ambulatory Pathway for the Management of Superficial Abscesses: Criteria for Safe Provision of Care.
Article in Cureus, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Superficial abscesses are common surgical emergencies and unless complicated, are considered a low-priority emergency often leading to delayed primary treatment. Patients who are clinically stable benefit more from an ambulatory-care approach to their treatment. Aim of study This is a retrospective study to investigate the current practice of treatment of superficial abscesses at West Suffolk Hospital, United Kingdom, and evaluate the potential impact of implementing care via the ambulatory pathway to improve patients' experience, optimise the use of hospital resources and identify areas for service improvement. Patients and methods A total of 76 patients who required inpatient care for drainage of their superficial abscess under general anaesthesia over six months were a part of the study. Admission, procedure, and hospital stay characteristics were evaluated as well as our proposed superficial abscess ambulatory-care pathway (SAAP) criteria. Results The mean age was 39 ± 18 years. Perianal and pilonidal abscesses accounted for 53% of the procedures. Only 24% of the patients had a C-reactive protein (CRP) >100 at admission. The average waiting time before intervention was 19 hours (± 16.25) with patients spending two days on average in the hospital for a procedure that lasted an average of 31 minutes. Overall, 39.5% of the patients received drainage of their abscess on the same day of presentation to the hospital with only five discharges on the same day of admission. Of the total patients, 52.6% met our SAAP criteria for ambulatory care and could have avoided inpatient care and benefitted from same-day discharges. Conclusion Ambulatory care of a superficial abscess is a safe, feasible approach. We recommend establishing an ambulatory care pathway for the management of superficial abscess cases with our SAAP criteria serving as a useful objective guide for effective and safe triage of patients with reduced hospital stay and more efficient utilisation of resources.
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