Postoperative packing of perianal abscesses following incision and drainage

A best evidence topic in general surgery was written according to a structured protocol, to address the question: in adult patients with perianal abscesses, should postoperative wound packing be undertaken considering the rates of pain experienced, wound healing and abscess recurrence? The literature search identified 159 papers on Ovid, Embase and Medline and 48 on PubMed. These were independently screened, and three articles were included in this review as these offered the best information to answer the question. One was a systematic review without meta-analysis, one was a randomised controlled trial and one was a multicentre observational study. Review of these articles led the authors to conclude that routine postoperative packing of perianal abscesses following incision and drainage is costly, associated with increased pain and confers no protection against recurrence of abscesses or formation of fistulae.