• Six percent of the anorectal abscesses drained last year at the Naval Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va, were of the high intramuscular variety. High intramuscular perianal abscesses may be difficult to diagnose because of the lack of external signs. It is important that a patient with unexplained anal pain be examined, under anesthesia if necessary. When a high intramuscular abscess is found, it is best drained into the anal canal rather than through a perianal skin incision.
(Arch Surg 113:891-892, 1978)