• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Abscess drain-no output

Quick backstory for those who haven’t read my previous post-My 19 year old son was diagnosed with Crohn’s almost 5 years ago and has been on 5mg of Remicade every 8 weeks since then with no issues and in remission. He was recently hospitalized for a week because he has an abscess and a fistula. Interventional Radiology placed a drain in the abscess and he was on IV antibiotics and then switched to oral antibiotics before he was discharged. Before they discharged him IR checked the drain because there was nothing coming out and they were hoping they could pull it. They left the drain in because the abscess hadn’t gone down much.

Has anyone ever had an experience with leaving in a drain even though there’s no output? Their explanation to me was that the drain was keeping the abscess “stirring” so that the antibiotics could reach it. My son has no fever, pain, etc. (THANK GOD) so I’m hoping the antibiotics are doing the job. Anyone have experience with this? Thoughts?
 
Top