Comparative Study of Incision and Drainage vs Repeated Needle Aspiration under Antibiotic Coverage for Breast Abscess Management

An abscess is a cavity in the breast filled with pus and necrotic material. A breast abscess can develop in the presence of severe mastitis. Breast abscess is the rare complication of mastitis especially when the treatment is either inadequate or delayed. Traditional treatment has been incision and drainage, but this results in scars leading to asymmetry and deformity, I & D is expensive, require regular post operative follow up with cessation of breast feeding. Puerperal breast abscess is common problems in lactating women, while non puerperal abscess is rare entity with significant problem as far as recurrence and microbiological spectrum is concerned. Previous studies have advocated the usage of I and D as primary treatment modality but recent studies have suggested that repeated needle aspiration with antibiotic coverage under USG guidance have been both successful with improved 7-10 cosmetic and curative outcome.