Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Needle Aspiration and Open Incision and Drainage for Cutaneous Abscesses

Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Needle Aspiration and Open Incision and Drainage in the Management of Cutaneous Abscesses

Status

Terminated

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01186900

Enrollment

Registered

2010-08-23

Start date

2009-06-30

Completion date

2011-03-31

Last updated

2011-08-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Abscess

Keywords

skin abscess, needle aspiration, incision and drainage

Brief summary

The investigators propose to conduct a, two armed, randomized, controlled pilot study to assess the clinical effects of a) open incision, drainage with daily packing changes, compared to b) Ultrasound guided needle aspiration, in drainage of uncomplicated cutaneous abscesses below the skin surface of adult emergency department patients using concealed allocation in evaluating patient satisfaction.

Interventions

PROCEDUREultrasound-guided needle aspiration

one time drainage at time of randomization

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients presenting to the Civic Campus emergency department of The Ottawa Hospital with an abscess less than 5 cm diameter, as judged by the attending emergency physician (measurement with tape measure for diameter) between the hours of 7 am and 10 pm will be approached for possible enrollment. Ultrasound will be used to assess the appropriate

Exclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Patient satisfaction	7 days

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Failure rate	7 days

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026