Successful treatment of infected thoracoabdominal aortic graft by percutaneous catheter drainage

A large perigraft abscess infected with Klebsiella sp. developed around a woven Dacron prosthesis inserted into a patient at high-risk with a leaking thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. Percutaneous insertion of a sump drainage catheter under ultrasound guidance accompanied by local and systemic antibiotic therapy was the only reasonable management option. Two years later the patient remains well with no evidence of sepsis on clinical examination, hematologic studies, computerized tomography or indium 111 labeled autologous leucocyte imaging. This technique may be successful in selected high-risk situations.