• 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 not healing

I'm newly diagnosed after a perforation with small abscess in early Feb. My repeat CT today revealed that the abscess hasn't healed & is about 2cm; too small to drain.
He started me on Levaquin and Flagyl.
Is there something else I should be doing to help healing?
I'm on pred (down to 30mg) and Pentasa.
I feel like I failed my CT. I've been feeling so good!
 
I'm speaking only from my own experience, so please take what I say with a grain of salt - but in my experience, an abscess is the resultant of a fistula. Until the fistula is healed, the abscess won't go away or, will simply recur. I had one that actually burst in the middle of the night and had another one that was drained with a scalpel - do everything you can to avoid having that done. All the numbing agents in the world didn't cover that immense pain, I literally almost chewed my thumb off during the procedure. Anyways, eventually the placement of a seton was necessary to facilitate draining and prevent formation of more abscesses while the fistula healed from Remicade treatment. It is my understanding that Remicade has shown great efficacy in healing fistulas and was definitely the case for me.

Good luck, I am still haunted by how painful my abscess was and trying to go about my day like nothing was wrong.
 
A CT would have shown a fistula though, right?
Not necessarily. It's been years since I fought this battle so forgive my lack of explanation, but at the time my doctor explained to me how difficult it is to track fistulas and out of his explanation came the recommendation to proceed with periodic endoscopic ultrasounds (EUS). He would not remove the seton until the EUS determined the fistula was healed, otherwise an abscess would simply have formed again.

Years later, I haven't had another abscess or fistula so I am a believer. My doctor is supposedly renowned for his IBD expertise.
 
I have the same problem! Here's the catch: If it is a fistula, or due to an aspect of IBD in general, they need to treat the disease. But they can't, because treatment for it is to suppress the immune system, which would cause the abscess to worsen. Oral antibiotics didn't work for me. I had to have a PICC line placed, and have several months of Invanz IV antibiotics to clear the abscess. Then they have a small window of time to get in there with the immuno suppressants to attempt to treat what caused the perforation. It's rough, I know. Hang in there!
 
I had an abscess in my rectum for about two months. During a bout with bronchitis a few weeks ago, I noticed the abscess was diminishing while I was on the antibiotics. After I recovered from bronchitis the abscess was no more. I did not notice any drainage and I felt zero pain. Nothing abnormal to indicate any fistula. Told my GI about it. I guess I was very lucky.
 
I think that's the balancing act my dr is trying to do autumn_rose
Gotta say, The Real MC , I'm both glad and sad mine is way internal. Harder to keep tabs on!
 
Location
Alaska
I had an obstruction that perforated and formed an abscess, also to small for a drain. After a couple of months on prednisone, hoping it would resolve, it stared growing. Was set for surgery. The surgeon said my gut was a mess and I might end up with a permanent ostomy. I had a month to get off prednisone before surgery, so I started juicing every other day and drinking protein drinks on the other days. Surgery went great. Surgeon said whatever I did made a huge difference. He had scheduled 4 hours for the procedure, and only took 2 1/2 hours. That was in 2012, and I am doing well! I was diagnosed when I had the obstruction. I hope yours heals!
 
Wow! So were the juicing and protein drinks in addition to your regular diet? I just started juicing but have been eating low-fiber, including a lot of junk, otherwise.
 
Top