886 Healing Hands and Thrifty Plans! A Prospective, Cost-Effective Trial in Abscess Management

Abstract

Abstract Aim Cutaneous abscesses are ubiquitous presentations requiring surgical drainage in most cases. There is a wide variation across the UK in the surgical practice dealing with such common problem. The aim of this study was to reduce the costs incurred in surgical drainage of acute skin and soft tissue abscess. Method This was a prospective, cost-effective study of the expenses incurred in surgical drainage of acute cutaneous and subcutaneous abscesses treated under the general surgeons' care over one year. Results A consequential saving of £13,962 was achieved during the study period. Between October 2019 and October 2020, 322 patients with soft tissue abscesses were treated by incision and drainage in general surgery. We calculated a total cost of £55.26 per patient for this routine operation. These expenses were based on basic surgical drapes pack, standard surgical gowns, sterile gloves and obtaining and processing the microbiology specimens. We have designed and implemented a new theatre protocol specifically for this procedure, resulting in a substantial reduction of the costs to £11.90 per patient. The total savings of £13,962 do not include savings caused by abscess drainage under local anaesthesia and does not calculate the savings that occurred due to shorter inpatient stay. These extra savings will be calculated and added later. Conclusions Considering the increasing financial burden on the NHS, we could make significant savings of nearly 80% of the operative costs of surgical drainage of a cutaneous abscess. We could achieve that by implementing simple modifications in the current surgical pathways without compromising patients' safety.