[Sucralfate versus placebo in the treatment of abdominal wound abscesses].

Twenty-seven patients were divided at random into two groups following abscess formation and complete reopening of the abdominal wound in a prospective double blind investigation to study the effect of topical sucralfate on the wound healing rate in secondary abdominal wounds. Fifteen patients were treated with sucralfate powder and 11 patients with placebo while one patient was excluded. The two groups were comparable as regards age, sex and factors predisposing to abscess formation. In the sucralfate group the median healing rate was 2.8 cm2/24 hours as compared with 2.4 cm2/24 hours in the placebo group (p = 0.92, Mann-Whitney test). From this investigation, it is concluded that topical application of sucralfate powder does not appear to increase the rate of healing in secondary abdominal wounds after incision of a wound abscess.