• Postgrad Med J · Sep 2003

    Role of microbiological investigations in the management of non-perineal cutaneous abscesses.

    • G Garcea, T Lloyd, M Jacobs, A Cope, A Swann, and D Berry.
    • University of Leicester.
    • Postgrad Med J. 2003 Sep 1;79(935):519-21.

    BackgroundPus samples for microbiological examination are routinely sent after incision and drainage of abscesses. There is no evidence that microbiology reports influence treatment for non-perineal cutaneous abscesses.AimsThis study assessed (1) how often the microbiology report is used to manage patients' treatment after incision and drainage of an abscess and (2) junior surgical trainees' opinions on sending pus for microbiological examination.MethodA retrospective analysis of the notes of all patients undergoing incision and drainage of abscesses from January 2001 to January 2002 was made. A telephone poll of junior surgical trainees was also undertaken.ResultsMost patients, 91%, had specimens referred for microbiology. Of these 43% yielded no growth. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism (55.9% of all positive cultures). Anaerobes were a frequent finding from axilla and groin abscesses. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was grown in two patients. Other less common organisms cultured were methicillin resistant S aureus (n=1) and Proteus sp (n=1). Follow up of microbiology reports was found to be inadequate.ConclusionThe bacteria present in non-perineal cutaneous abscesses are, for the most part, predictable. However, a significant number grow less common organisms. It is concluded that pus specimens should be sent routinely for culture and sensitivity and there should be further emphasis on following up microbiology reports by junior medical staff.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…