Publication:

The efficacy of primary closure following incision and drainage of lactational breast abscess over traditional open method

Background The incidence of breast abscess ranges from 0.4 to 11% of all lactating mothers. Although breast abscess is a serious common complication of mastitis with high morbidity rate, there is a lack of high-quality randomized trial to demonstrate the best treatments.

Methods The Study was conducted in the Department of Surgery of Universal medical college and hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh and MH Samorita hospital and medical college. It was a randomized controlled trial to see the efficacy of primary closure following incision and drainage of lactational breast abscess over traditional open method. Total 120 population were randomly selected in group A (60 patients) and group B (60 patients) and data was collected with their signed ethical consent. The study was conducted from January 2014 to December 2019. Collected data were classified, edited, coded and entered into the computer for statistical analysis by using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.

Results In patients of group A, most breast abscesses healed successfully with a nicer circumareolar scar, earlier healing, lesser number of hospital visits and lower total cost as compared to patients in group B. There was early resumption of breastfeeding and better patient satisfaction seen in group A.

Conclusions Primary closure of lactational breast abscess following incision and drainage is an effective modality of treatment of lactational breast abscess and it should be the first line of treatment, especially for larger and multilocular breast abscesses while traditional incision and drainage should be reserved for abscesses with gangrenous skin changes, where primary closure is not justified.