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Summary
An abscess is a pocket of pus. You can get an abscess almost anywhere in your body. When an area of your body becomes infected, your body's immune system tries to fight the infection. White blood cells go to the infected area, collect within the damaged tissue, and cause inflammation. During this process, pus forms. Pus is a mixture of living and dead white blood cells, germs, and dead tissue.
Bacteria, viruses, parasites and swallowed objects can all lead to abscesses. Skin abscesses are easy to detect. They are red, raised and painful. Abscesses inside your body may not be obvious and can damage organs, including the brain, lungs and others. Treatments include drainage and antibiotics.
Diagnosis and Tests
- CT Enterography (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
- MR Enterography (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Percutaneous Abscess Drainage (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Hidradenitis Suppurativa (American Osteopathic College of Dermatology)
- Pilonidal Cyst (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Abscess in the Lungs (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
- Anal Abscess and Fistula (American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons) Also in Spanish
- Bartholin's Cyst (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Folliculitis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Peritonsillar Abscess (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: The analysis of different types of anorectal abscesses was conducted using...
- Article: Characterization of Risk Factors Affecting the Recurrence of Perianal Abscesses and...
- Article: Bi-institutional analysis of microbiological spectrum and therapeutic management of parotid abscesses.
- Abscess -- see more articles
Find an Expert
Children
- Abscess (VisualDX)
- Retropharyngeal Abscess (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
-
Treating Pilonidal Cysts (Gips Procedure) (For Parents)
(Nemours Foundation)
Teenagers
- Peritonsillar Abscess (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Abscess - abdomen or pelvis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Amebic liver abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Anorectal abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Bartholin cyst or abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Brain abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Epidural abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Indium-labelled WBC scan (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Pancreatic abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Perirenal abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Peritonsillar abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Pyogenic liver abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Retropharyngeal abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Skin abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Subareolar abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Surgery for pilonidal cyst (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tooth abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish