The following is a summary of “Drainage of anorectal abscesses in the operating room is associated with a decreased risk of abscess recurrence and fistula formation,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Narayanan, et al.
In the management of anorectal abscesses, timely incision and drainage (I&D) were considered the primary approach. For a study, researchers sought to investigate the current practices in anorectal abscess management and identify the factors associated with abscess recurrence and fistula formation.
The study included all index episodes of anorectal abscesses that were treated with I&D between 2014 and 2018 in a multi-hospital healthcare system. The study used Cox proportional hazard regression to evaluate the association between the index episode and the one-year abscess recurrence or fistula formation. Only patients without fistulae at the index operation were evaluated for fistulae.
The study analyzed a total of 458 patients who met the study criteria, and the one-year rate of abscess recurrence or fistula formation was 20.3%. The results showed that drainage in the operating room was associated with a reduced risk of abscess recurrence or fistula formation when compared to bedside procedures (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.20 [95%CI 0.114–0.367]).
In conclusion, the findings suggested that improved exposure and patient comfort in the operating room may allow for more complete drainage, leading to decreased rates of abscess recurrence or fistula formation.
Source: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00551-7/fulltext
