Treatment options for hepatic cystic echinococcosis

A number of surgical and non-surgical options exist to treat cystic echinococcosis of the liver. For decades, surgical excision via a conservative or radical approach was the recommended approach for hepatic hydatid cysts. The availability of chemotherapeutic agents with significant activity against Echinococcus granulosis has made it possible to undertake ultrasound- or computed tomography-guided transhepatic percutaneous drainage (termed puncture, aspiration, injection, and re-aspiration (PAIR)) of hydatid cysts. Pre- and post-intervention chemotherapy with albendazole or mebendazole offers the advantage of reducing the risk of disease recurrence and intraperitoneal seeding of infection that may develop via cyst rupture and spillage occurring spontaneously or during surgery or needle drainage. PAIR appears to have greater clinical efficacy (i.e. a higher incidence of cure), lower rates of major and minor complications, mortality, and disease recurrence, and fewer days of hospitalization compared to patients treated surgically. For patients who fail drug therapy alone, PAIR is a safe and effective procedure of choice for patients with hepatic echinococcosis, and perhaps other anatomic sites of infection such as lung, peritoneum, kidney, and other viscera. Surgery should be reserved for patients with hydatid cysts refractory to PAIR because of secondary bacterial infection or for those with difficult-to-manage cyst-biliary communication or obstruction.