Loop Technique for Skin Abscess Drainage

Abscess management in the emergency department (ED) is continually evolving, with some studies questioning the need for packing or antibiotics. The traditional treatment of skin abscesses has been incision and drainage with packing; however, this procedure is often painful, and the treatment may fail. The loop technique consists of making an incision, breaking up loculations, creating a second incision at the outer edge, irrigating, passing a vessel loop through the incisions, and tying the loop ends loosely together. The vessel loop is left in place to be retracted after several days.

In a prospective trial, researchers randomized 217 adult and pediatric patients with skin abscesses to traditional incision and drainage with packing or incis…