Question:
Why do I keep getting abscesses at my incision site?

I had an open RNY on June 10th, 1999 and am still battling an abscess that is still draining fluid. I have been getting the same abscess for 3 months in a row in the same exact place. It just keeps reopening. What can I do about it? Please explain why I keep getting them. Does anyone know?    — Glendora W. (posted on March 22, 2000)

March 23, 2000
Hi again.....for some reason I can't find my previous answer but I wanted to write back because of your e-mail to me. I was having some trouble when I was on line before. Did you get my entire answer of just part. I didn't really mean to scare you. I just wanted to let you know how important it is for you to follow-up with a physician. It is not normal for you to have an abscess that is still draining this long after surgery. I beleive that if your surgeon isn't resolving the problem then if it were me I would go to either my family physician or a specialist. Did the specialist part scare you? As a nurse I view going to a specialist as a plus in taking care of yourself. Specialist are not just for when you are in really bad shape. It's just that a physician who specializes in infectious disease can usually find the problem right away because after all that is his specialty. So sorry. Did not intend to scare you. Sometimes the nurse in me forgets that not everyone has the same thinking mode I do because I've been around the medical field so much. You take care of yourself. -Penny
   — Penny W.

March 24, 2000
Glendora, as a wound care specialist, I must ask if you have seen your doctor for this. The things that could cause this are a deeper abscess that just keeps healing over and breaking again. A foreign body ie; a staple or suture. Sometimes people can get a sort of fat abscess, because fat does not have the components to heal. I hope you are not putting peroxide and/or Betadine on tnhis wound. They are cytotoxic to the healthy tissue. You should clean with Normal Saline and apply an antibiotic ointment. But please,please go to your doctor, if he cannot help seek out a WOUND CARE CENTER in your area. Please feel free to e-mail me. See Ya, Sue [email protected]
   — Sue M.

August 29, 2000
Hi Glendora, I write not knowing if you have taken care of your problem,,if so,,maybe this info will help someone else out. I had the same thing happen to me but I had a partial hysterectomy. Three days later at my first office check up I had told my Dr that just above my pelvic bone I felt like I had A large mass there. It felt like the size of a 4 month pregnancy ( i had 4 children) and I told her this is what it felt like. I said it felt detached of me yet there was pain. She said it was just hardened muscle from the surgery. Two days after that,I had gotten up from my chair, walked 10 feet to turn off a light and felt something wet going the length of my gown. I thought I had wet myself without realizing it ( I have severe incontinence) I looked on the floor and there was a very large puddle of blood. I grabbed my stomache and called for my husband to come and help me find the origin of all this blood. I sat on the toilet thinking I was loosing it from there. My husband lifted my gown to look at my surgical area and noticed a small hole at the bottom of my incision.(I could not look because of my stomache apron) Off to the Emergency room we went. While in there,,the Dr on call reopened my incision area about two inches (no anesthetic) and the blood just gushed out like one of those hot spring gushers at Niagra Falls.OOHH the relief I felt when it came out of there. He stated that it was close to a pint and a half that came out. He irrigated it and took a long handled tool about 8 inches and began packing the hole with medicated wicking material. He thought he would get the wicking to the bottom but once the surgical tool went in as far as the finger grip was,,he stated he could not reach the bottom. Anyway, I went twice a day for 6 weeks to get this changed and re packed. The stopped then and left it to heal from the inside out.I felt that there was still alot of drainage coming out and it should be left open. I went for a second opinion. They ALL concurred to let it heal. I still felt my bulge come back with the pain. At 7 weeks they did a scan and found the fluid had started collecting on BOTH my ovaries and had formed a large cyst at my tail bone. I then had to go in to have ALL THREE of those areas drained and my ovaries taken out. DO NOT let your drainage or other symptoms go without seeing your Dr. I did what I thought best in getting a second opinion. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST,,THEN TAKE CARE OF OTHERS>
   — Violet K.

August 30, 2000
You should call your surgeon ASAP and tell him what has been happening. I had an abscess at the bottom of my incision and had to have my surgeon drain it. Luckily, it healed completely after that. Bascially, your wound keeps draining because it's trying to tell you that there is infection in there! You don't want the top layer to heal over an infection. Please, call your surgeon and get it checked out. If he tells you not to worry about it then go to your PCP and get a referral for a second opinion.
   — Kellie L.