Antibiotic Therapy After Incision and Drainage for Abscess
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2011-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Background: Skin abscesses are a growing problem in the general pediatric population around
the world. While the standard treatment for an abscess/boil is incision and drainage, many
physicians also prescribe antibiotics, despite the lack of evidence that antibiotics are
necessary to help the wound heal. The purpose of this research study is to determine whether
antibiotics are necessary after incision and drainage of a skin abscess in children. This is
an important question because medical evidence has shown that using antibiotics when they are
not needed has contributed to the increase of bacterial antibiotic resistance. In fact,
several of the antibiotics that successfully killed Staph bacteria several years ago are now
no longer effective because of antibiotic resistance. Now resistant forms of Staph bacteria,
called "Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus" (CA-MRSA), account for 50-85%
of all pediatric skin abscesses. If antibiotics are not necessary then withholding them when
appropriate may help slow the progression of antibiotic-resistant Staph infections.
Objective(s) and Hypothesis(es): The investigators believe that antibiotics are no better
than placebo at achieving a cure after drainage of an abscess in a child. The objective of
this study is to answer the question: Do antibiotics after abscess drainage result in a
better chance of cure than placebo?
Potential Impact: If abscess drainage alone is shown to be as effective as drainage followed
by antibiotics, then the routine use of antibiotics for this problem could be avoided. This
would help limit the increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria (especially CA-MRSA) in
communities around the world. A well-designed study may provide the evidence to change the
way children are treated for abscesses in a future where antibiotic resistant bacteria will
be even more of a public health challenge.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Wake Forest School of Medicine Wake Forest University
Treatments:
Anti-Bacterial Agents Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination