A trial on same day discharge after drainage of abscesses

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Post-operative care usually includes an overnight hospital stay, to ensure adequate analgesia, satisfactory haemostasis. Patients with an abscess drained will stay until the next morning with examination of the wound and the removal of the haemostatic pack. It is the fact that there is a logistic reason to keep the patients postoperatively. Baker et al illustrated their similar experience in NZ about theatre access (Baker 2009). Drainage of an abscess received a relatively low priority since it can be done by more junior staff after hours. Patients tend to have prolonged stays if access to theatre is an issue. There is currently no evidence to keep post abscess drainage patient in the hospital otherwise (Akkapulu 2014). It is time to encourage a better use of hospital resources in managing this common condition. The proposed change is to perform the drainage procedure early at the start of the ASU theatre list with minimal anaesthesia. There is evidence that for lower torso procedures, a smaller dose of spinal anaesthesia enables early ambulatory and shorter recovery period from anaesthesia. The patient is then referred to Acute Care at Home service for observation and to be discharged on the next day. Adequate analgesia and antibiotics will be dispensed prior the patient is being discharge from recovery. The ASU team can be contacted if concerns are raised by the Acute Care at Home service. The patient is then referred to Community Wound services for post-operative wound care. The complication and re-admission rate post drainage are very low (<1%) in the current management of abscesses, according to the ASU internal audit. It is important to ensure this low complication and re-admission rate continue in the new management model. The purpose of this trial is to demonstrate the safety of this new management.

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