Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
adage
A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, meaning "where here ispus, there evacuatet. It refers to what clinicians should do when there is a collection of pus in the body; that is, to create an opening for it to evacuate. A contemporary expression of the same sentiment is also used: "if there's pus about, let it out" or "let no sun set on an undrained abscess".
Examples include what an otorhinolaryngologist will often do in case of a child with chronic recurring otitis media: Insert a grommet in the eardrum to help evacuate the excess fluid within.
Antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...
s often have difficulties getting into an abscess, and do not work well because of a low pH; evacuation through a drainage-channel, on the other hand, will remove a large number of
bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
and thus greatly aid the resolution of the
infection
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...