Popping Pus

Warning: graphic descriptions ahead. Continue in temporal and/or physical proximity to food and drink at your own risk. Everyone has their abscess story. Tales of pressurized pockets of pus abound. Trust me: however far-fetched they may seem…they’re not. I had one such experience last week in which a man came to me with a painful red swollen lump on his back. It was about 2 inches in diameter, angry and fluctuant (softened) and ready to be drained, which he pleaded with me to do. So I did. Although this is typically one of the more painful procedures I can inflict on someone, he did great. Possibly his status as a chronic pain patient on a fairly hefty baseline narcotic dose helped. Still, I was able to get away with the “I” (incision) part of the I&D (drainage) without even a local. (I’ve been told that the pH of the abscess cavity neutralizes the local anesthetic anyway, so it’s just an extra futile stick with which I was happy to dispense.) Taking my #11 blade and jabbing it in, I was immediately rewarded with about a teaspoonful of thick bright yellow-greenish pus. Knowing there was plenty more in there, I got to squeezing, keeping plenty of 4×4’s in hand to sop up my gleanings. One particular squeeze resulted in a distinct “squirt” that landed a little pus on the man’s pulled-up shirt, which I surreptitiously wiped away. This is also why I wear glasses, by the way, though luckily I didn’t get anyt...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs