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World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2026; 18(11): 124019
Published online Nov 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.124019
Published online Nov 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.124019
Incision and drainage vs minimally invasive catheter drainage on pain and anal function in high perianal abscess patients
Ke-Ke Ma, Yi-Qin Lu, Department of AnoRectal Surgery, Wuxi Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University, Wuxi 214000, Jiangsu Province, China
Hui-Chao Chen, Department of TCM Surgery, Jiangyin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangyin 214400, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Ke-Ke Ma and Hui-Chao Chen.
Author contributions: Ma KK and Chen HC designed the research study, performed the formal analysis, carried out the investigation, curated the data, developed the methodology, and wrote the original draft as co-first authors; Lu YQ provided project supervision, offered methodological guidance, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
AI contribution statement: The authors take full responsibility and accountability for all content of this manuscript, including any portions for which AI tools were used as assistive technologies. All AI-assisted outputs were carefully reviewed, validated, and approved by the authors. AI tools were not used to generate original scientific data, perform independent scientific analyses, or draw scientific conclusions.
Institutional review board statement: This study received approval from the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee of Wuxi Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University (approval No. KS2026-033-01), and was conducted in accordance to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed consent statement: Given the exclusive use of de-identified patient data, which presented no potential harm or impact on patient care, the need for informed consent was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used during the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Yi-Qin Lu, MD, Department of AnoRectal Surgery, Wuxi Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University, No. 999 Liangxi Road, Binhu District, Wuxi 214000, Jiangsu Province, China. lyqwxjy@163.com
Received: June 4, 2026
Revised: August 3, 2026
Accepted: September 10, 2026
Published online: November 27, 2026
Processing time: 161 Days and 19.1 Hours
Revised: August 3, 2026
Accepted: September 10, 2026
Published online: November 27, 2026
Processing time: 161 Days and 19.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This retrospective study compared incision and drainage with selective seton placement vs minimally invasive catheter drainage (MICD) for high perianal abscesses. MICD demonstrates significant advantages in reducing postoperative pain and preserving anal sphincter function. Notably, the observed lower fistula rate with MICD is confounded by differing intraoperative management of the internal opening between techniques. These findings support MICD as a promising, patient-centered alternative, though further validation with standardized protocols is required.