Percutaneous drainage without sclerotherapy for benign ovarian cysts

To evaluate percutaneous short-term catheter drainage in the management of benign ovarian cysts in patients at increased surgical risk.

Thirty-eight patients with simple ovarian cysts were treated with drainage of fluid content by catheters until output stopped. All patients were poor candidates for surgery. All procedures were performed under ultrasonographic (US) control and local anesthesia. Cytologic examination was performed in all cases. The patients were followed up monthly with color Doppler US for 12 months. Outcome measure was the recurrence of a cyst.

During the 12-month follow-up period, 10 of 38 cysts recurred. Seven of the 10 cysts required further intervention, and three were followed up without intervention. Four of the seven patients who required further intervention underwent repeat transabdominal aspiration and three declined repeat aspiration and subsequently underwent surgery. After repeated aspirations, two of four cysts disappeared, one necessitated follow-up only, and one necessitated surgical intervention. Cyst volume (P = .009) and diameter (P = .001) were significantly larger in the cysts that recurred. No evidence of malignancy was reported in the cytologic examination in any patient. No patients developed malignancy during follow-up. No major complications were observed. The hospital stay was 1 day for all patients. The median duration of drainage in the groups with resolved and recurrent cysts was 1 day (interquartile range, 1-1) and 2 days (interquartile range, 1-3), respectively (P = .04).

In patients considered poor candidates for open surgery or laparoscopy, percutaneous treatment of ovarian cysts with short-term catheter drainage without sclerotherapy appears to be a safe and effective alternative, with low recurrence rates.