Comparison of catheter drainage with incision drainage in children with soft tissue abscesses.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of catheter drainage with incision and drainage in children having soft tissue abscess. Study Design: Randomized Control Trial. Setting: Department of Paediatric Surgery, Allied Hospital Faisalabad. Period: January 2016 to June 2017. Material & Methods: After taking approval from the hospital ethical committee, 160 patients coming through OPD of the department who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled, and informed consent was taken from them. The patients were randomly divided into two groups using a computer-generated random number table. In group A, patients underwent catheter drainage method, and in group B, patients underwent incision and drainage method. Results: Out of 160 cases (80 in each group), 60% (n=48) in Group-A and 67.5% (n=54) in Group-B were between 1-6 years while 40% (n=32) in Group-A and 32.5% (n=26) in Group-B were 7-12 years of age. 70% (n=56) in Group-A and 67.5% (n=54) in Group-B were males. On efficacy comparison, it was shown that 73.75% (n=59) in Group-A and 47.5% (n=38) in Group-B had efficacy; the p-value was calculated as 0.0007, showing a significant difference. Conclusion: We concluded that catheter drainage is better than incision and drainage in children having soft tissue abscess in terms of length of hospital stay ˂ 24 hours.