Ultrasound-guided percutaneous treatment of abdominal collections

Abdominal abscess is a very important problem nowadays, being responsible for prolonged hospitalisation, because these infections still cause substantial morbidity and mortality. For many years, surgical drainage has been considered the best therapeutic option in abdominal abscesses but several studies have subsequently shown that the percutaneous approach is as effective as surgical drainage. Starting from this background, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether or not percutaneous drainage is a valid treatment of choice. In the Department of Surgical Sciences, Organ Transplantation and Advanced Technologies of the University of Catania, 451 ultrasound guided percutaneous drainages of intra-abdominal abscesses were performed on 430 patients. Abscess drainage was successful in 322/403 (80%) of postoperative abscess, in 16/18 (90%) of primitive abscesses, in 10/12 cases (85%) of acute cholecystitis, in 3/6 cases (50%) of intrahepatic abscess and in 12/12 cases (100%) of pyelonephritis. US-guided drainage is currently the gold standard in the treatment of simple abdominal abscesses.