Drainage in Abdominal Emergencies

years having had a pretty large number of abdominal emergencies, I have been able to put my opinion into practice. I will take the subject of acute appendicitis as an example of abdominal emergencies and because it is the commonest. Before discussing drainage I would like to write a few lines on the incision. Where the case has been diagnosed early and where pus is not present in a localised abscess I always use the " gridiron" incision. This incision gives plenty of room for removal of the ordinary inflamed appendix. When I suspect many adhesions from previous attacks of appendicitis I use " Battle's" incision, i.e., an incision through the rectus sheath near its outer margin. The rectus muscle is pulled inwards and the posterior wall of the sheath opened. This incision gives more room than the "gridiron."