The Bottom Line - January 27, 2017 - By Hackett A
Ref: Talan. NEJM 2016;374(9):823-832
"Clinical Question
In patients with drained cutaneous abscesses does trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole compared with placebo increase clinical cure rates?
The Bottom Line
In patients with drained cutaneous abscesses TMP-SMX resulted in a significantly improved
clinical cure rate compared with placebo. TMP-SMX had a benign safety profile. The average size of erythema surrounding these abscesses was in the range that may have been expected to benefit from antibiotics, so clinicians should continue to use clinical judgement, particularly in abscesses that have minimal surrounding erythema."