Peri-anal abscess

Hi Everyone,

My son was diagnosed with Crohn's isolated to his terminal ileum 15 months ago. He had a lot of peri-anal pain yesterday and when I looked last night, it did not look like a hemorrhoid like I suspected since this has happened in the past.

I took him to the pediatrician today who said he thinks it is an abscess and told me to contact his GI (I will call in the morning) and started him on augmentum, also miralax and lidocane cream.

I did some reading tonight and it looks like it really needs drainage for treatment. His pediatrician said that people with Crohn's are more suceptible to abscesses but that this is not necessarily Crohn's of his peri-anal region.

I emailed his GI tonight and will do whatever he recommends tomorrow but what do you all think? Should I push for drainage? He is very active and is in his main sports season right now. He has told no one he has Crohn's since his only sypmtoms (till now) was growth failure. How long would this procedure keep him from activit?

Any "heads up" advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

My first choice would be to try Cipro and Flagyl to try and avoid drainage. Depending on the severity it could possibly clear it up so drainage is not needed.

If he does require drainage, recovery time will be dependent on how severe it is. When I got my abscess drained I had to stay in the hospital for 5 days but mine was extremely severe. Lots of members even do it as out patient and are home the same day.

Best of luck!

Hello,
I had a peri anal abscess drained almost a year ago. It depends on the size of the abscess as to how long it will need packing and how long it will take to heal. How old is your son?
Its not a very nice thing to go through, and having it drained does not guarantee it wont come back, as mine did. I would say just do as your GI recommends. If antibiotics clear it up that would be the ideal.

Thanks for the feedback. His Pedi did ask me to let the GI know the antibiotic he prescribed to make sure it is the right thing so perhaps he will switch him to Flagyl and Cipro. I will definitely make sure we connect with him today based on your comments. He is a professor as well and can be hard to get but he is the director of the Childrens IBD clinic and his nurse is great so I am sure she will get things taken care of.

Do you know if this means that his Crohn's has now moved to his anus or is this just something that he is more prone to because he has Crohns of his terminal ileum?

Thanks again,