[Programmed irrigation and drainage in the treatment of patients with a local soft-tissue suppurative infection]

Treatment of 92 patients aged from 18 to 69 years with abscesses and phlegmons of soft tissues included programmed irrigation and drainage. Apparatuses with two-level programs were used. It was shown that programmed irrigation and drainage allowed microbial dissemination by wash liquid to be decreased to 10 colony-forming units per 1 ml during 3 days. This term can be shortened to 1 day when using the program of intensive irrigation and drainage (more than 200 cycles during the first days after operation) and when intraoperative treatment with a beating jet of liquid is used in combination with curettage and vacuuming.