Antibiotic Irrigations for Intra-Abdominal Drains (AID)

Intra-abdominal abscesses are pus-filled pouches in the abdominal cavity. Current standard of care includes drain placement in the abscess cavity to reach source control as well as administration of systemic antibiotics. It is common practice to flush the drain on a daily basis to ensure patency. This study aims to analyze the clinical impact of a higher local concentration of antibiotics (rather than normal saline) provided through drain irrigation with an antimicrobial agent (Gentamicin and/or Clindamycin) compare to normal saline.

People with an abdominal abscess who undergo drain placement will have those drains irrigated twice/day with either normal saline (placebo group) or with the above antibiotic solution for a total of 7 days or less if the drain were to be removed earlier. Outcomes of interest are duration of systemic antibiotics, and WBC and temperature curve.

There will be two group, study and control group. In control group, patient will receive standard intra-abdominal drain care with daily flushing of the drain with normal saline. In study group, patient will receive daily flush with antibiotic for 7 days.

Written consent will be obtained from all participants. Then, each participant will be randomized into two arms. Nurse will administer the drain flush either with normal saline or antibiotic irrigation.

Irrigate surgical drain with total amount of 5 mg in 10 ml volume twice/day for 7 days or until drain removal if less than 7 days of therapy.

Irrigate surgical drain with total amount of 12 mg in 10 ml volume once daily for 7 days or until drain removal if less than 7 days of therapy.

Total duration of systemic antibiotics will be recorded from the start of the treatment until discontinuation by primary care team. This will be measured as days from diagnosis to when the antibiotic treatment gets interrupted. Duration of systemic antibiotics will be our primary outcome measurement. Duration of systemic antibiotics will be monitored as an indication of the effectiveness of the proposed intervention.

White blood count level from the blood draw will be measured starting from the admission until discharge or discontinuation by primary care team. During follow up, if white blood count will be measured, will record up to 1 month follow up. The white blood count will be measured once daily and as needed depending on clinical changes. We will plan to trend WBC as another indication of decreasing systemic inflammation.

Temperature will be measured every 8 hours starting from admission and until patient discharge. And also temperature will be measured during each follow up clinic visit. Change in temperature is monitored as an indication of decrease systemic inflammation.

CT scan of would have been obtained prior to image guided drain placement. Any subsequent CT scans up to 1 month follow up upon discharge will be reviewed to assess changes in size of the abscess. This will be monitored for assessing the effectiveness of intervention.

Drain will have certain output that is recorded daily. Daily drain output will be in unit of ml and will be monitored as a measurement of abscess resolution.

The total duration of the drain placement will be recorded in days starting from the day of placement up to drain removal and monitored as a effectiveness of the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: Intra-abdominal abscess drained with catheter/drain Treatment with systemic antibiotics Able to consent Exclusion Criteria: Abscess(es) not amendable for an image guided drain placement.

Yoon YI, Hwang S, Cho YJ, Ha TY, Song GW, Jung DH. Therapeutic effect of trans-drain administration of antibiotics in patients showing intractable pancreatic leak-associated pus drainage after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Korean J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2015 Feb;19(1):17-24. doi: 10.14701/kjhbps.2015.19.1.17. Epub 2015 Feb 28.

Sauermann R, Karch R, Kjellsson MC, Feurstein T, Puspok A, Langenberger H, Bohmdorfer M, Jager W, Zeitlinger M. Good penetration of moxifloxacin into human abscesses. Pharmacology. 2012;90(3-4):146-50. doi: 10.1159/000341550. Epub 2012 Aug 3.

Sauermann R, Feurstein T, Karch R, Kjellsson MC, Jager W, Bohmdorfer M, Puspok A, Langenberger H, Wild T, Winkler S, Zeitlinger M. Abscess penetration of cefpirome: concentrations and simulated pharmacokinetic profiles in pus. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2012 Oct;68(10):1419-23. doi: 10.1007/s00228-012-1270-1. Epub 2012 Mar 23.

Zimmerman LH, Tyburski JG, Glowniak J, Singla R, Lavery T, Nailor M, Stassinopoulus J, Hong K, Barshikar S, Dolman HS, Baylor AE, Wilson RF. Impact of evaluating antibiotic concentrations in abdominal abscesses percutaneously drained. Am J Surg. 2011 Mar;201(3):348-52; discussion 352. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2010.09.010.