Table 2.
Treatment characteristics
| Treatment characteristic | Category | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Primary treatment | Surgical drainage | 1351 (82.8) |
| Needle aspiration | 30 (1.8) | |
| Antibiotics only | 210 (12.9) | |
| No treatment | 31 (1.9) | |
| Other* | 9 (0.6) | |
| Timing of surgery† | First hospital presentation | 917 (67.9) |
| Planned return presentation | 434 (32.1) | |
| Preoperative antibiotics† | No | 634 (47.0) |
| Yes | 716 (53.0) | |
| Surgical setting† | Operating room | 922 (68.2) |
| Emergency department | 20 (1.5) | |
| Ward/treatment area | 409 (30.3) | |
| Anaesthetic type† | General anaesthetic | 874 (64.7) |
| Local anaesthetic | 441 (32.6) | |
| Other‡ | 36 (2.7) | |
| Primary operator† | Consultant | 75 (5.6) |
| Junior surgical trainee | 541 (40.1) | |
| Nurse practitioner | 50 (3.7) | |
| Senior surgical trainee | 682 (50.6) | |
| Type of incision† | Cruciate | 33 (2.5) |
| Elliptical | 238 (18.4) | |
| Linear | 1024 (79.1) | |
| Abscess packed† | No | 213 (15.8) |
| Yes | 1136 (84.2) | |
| Postoperative antibiotics† | No | 648 (48.0) |
| Yes—≥3 days total | 579 (42.9) | |
| Yes—<3 days total | 123 (9.1) |
Values are n (%). Junior surgical trainee relates to postgraduate year 1–4 or junior clinical fellow and senior surgical trainee relates to postgraduate year 5–10 or senior clinical fellow. *Other comprises chlorhexidine/saline washout (n = 4), silver nitrate (n = 2), cold spray alone for symptomatic relief (n = 1), and surgery was planned, but patient declined or did not attend (n = 2). †Data relate to patients undergoing surgical drainage (n = 1351). ‡Other comprises spinal (n = 22), regional plexus block (n = 4), cold spray alone (n = 6); Entonox, and other inhalational gas alone (n = 4).