Breast Abscesses: Diagnosis, Treatment and Outcome

Abstract

KeywordsBreast · Abscess · Ultrasonography · Fine needle aspiration · Drainage Summary Background: The aim of our study was to analyze diagnostic results, different treatment modalities, and the outcome of patients with breast abscesses treated at our institution in a multi-modality breast team, to determine whether minimally invasive treatments are successful. Methods: 110 patients with mastitis and suspected breast abscesses at our institution between January 2000 and end of September 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. Abscesses were diagnosed using ultrasono graphy (US), and the material obtained using US-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) was further examined. Results: 29% of the patients were treated conservatively with antibiotics only, 51% were treated with US-guided FNA or drainage placement. 11% of the patients underwent additional surgery after minimally invasive treatment (i.e. conversion rate). 9% of the patients underwent primary surgery. Early complications occurred in 7% of patients treated minimally invasive but not in patients treated with surgery alone. Late complications occurred in 5% of patients who underwent minimally invasive treatments and in 30% of patients who underwent surgery. Conclusions: US-guided FNA as a minimally invasive therapy in combination with antibiotics was found to successfully treat most breast abscesses and, in cases where a larger volume of pus was involved, the placement of an additional drainage catheter was effective.

Breast Abscess; Comparison of Recurrence Rate Between Incision Drainage and Multiple Needle Aspiration

“…The higher recurrence rate overweighs the perceived cosmetic advantages. Our argument is supported by similar studies conducted at various centers [26][27][28][29][30] .…”

Surgical drainage of lactational breast abscess with ultrasound‐guided Encor vacuum‐assisted breast biopsy system

“…In addition, optimal management of lactational breast abscess should also include effective milk removal, antibiotics, analgesia, and other supportive measures such as sufficient rest, adequate fluids, and proper nutrition . Traditional incisive drainage may be the most effective way to treat breast abscess with the highest cure rate and lowest recurrent rate . However, such procedure often results in unsatisfactory cosmetic outcome with evident scar, great pain associated with regular wound dressing, interfering with breast feeding and prolonged healing time.…”

“…1,17 Traditional incisive drainage may be the most effective way to treat breast abscess with the highest cure rate and lowest recurrent rate. 4,6,18 However, such procedure often results in unsatisfactory cosmetic outcome with evident scar, great pain associated with regular wound dressing, interfering with breast feeding and prolonged healing time. Hence, the aim of our study was to explore an alternative procedure to incisive drainage with high cure rate, low recurrent risk, and minimally invasive character.…”

“…However, incisive drainage is now considered as the last resort for the management of breast abscess because of shortcomings such as prolonged healing time, regular dressings and dressing pain, interfering with breastfeeding and unsatisfactory cosmetic outcome ( Figure 1). [3][4][5][6] This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri butio n-NonCo mmercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.…”

Postoperative Recovery Quality after General Anesthesia in Patients Undergoing Emergency Surgery

“…When the operation has been completed, the wound cavity will be left open for drainage and regular irrigation. This condition can impact the patient's physical comfort as a dimension of the QoR [35]. Poor recovery conditions can also occur in resistant breast abscess cases, which is when the abscess is no longer responsive to the combination of drainage measures and the use of oral antibiotics.…”