Abstract Background Intra-abdominal and pelvic abscesses are common and result from various illnesses. Percutaneous drainage applies limitedly to well-localized abscesses with appropriate density while surgical drainage usually causes significant physiological disturbance. We herein illustrated an innovative choice “sump drainage with trocar puncture” for the management of intra-abdominal abscesses and compare it with conventional percutaneous and surgical drainage in terms of clinical outcomes and prognosis. Methods Medical records of a total of 75 patients with abscesses were retrospectively retrieved and scrutinized. Data consisted of demographics, abscesses characteristics and treatment outcomes including postoperative complication, duration of hospitalization, postoperative recurrence of abscesses, subsequent surgery, ultimate stoma creation and survival rate. All enrolled patients were divided into trocar group (n = 30), percutaneous group (n = 20) and surgical group (n = 25) according to the therapeutic modalities. One-way ANOVA and t -test with Welch’s correction were used in continuous variables, and Chi-squared test as well as Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables. The cumulative incidence of subsequent surgery and ultimate stoma creation was also indicated by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by log-rank test. Results The risk of ultimate stoma creation (p = 0.0069) and duration of postoperative hospitalization (p = 0.0077) were significantly decreased in trocar group compared with the surgical group. Patients receiving trocar puncture also tended to be less likely to have subsequent surgery (p = 0.097). Patients in trocar group displayed a lower rate of postoperative complication than the percutaneous (p = 0.0317) and surgical groups (p = 0.0175). As for Kaplan–Meier analysis, the cumulative incidence of ultimate stoma creation of the patients using sump drainage was also significantly different among three groups during follow-up period (p = 0.011). Conclusion This novel technique “sump drainage by trocar puncture” .