Endoscopic ultrasound-guided drainage of postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses

Although endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided drainage has become the standard procedure for pancreatic pseudocysts in recent years and is generally regarded as a safe and effective method, there have been few reports of EUS-guided drainage of postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses. Here we report our experience with 4 cases of postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses for which EUS-guided drainage was performed between May 2011 and May 2014. Distal pancreatectomy had been performed in 3 cases, whereas low anterior resection for rectal cancer was performed in the remaining case. All patients underwent transgastric naso-cystic drainage, which resulted in clinical improvement without complications, even when performed within 4 wk after surgery. On average, the naso-cystic drain was removed 10 d after placement, with no abscess recurrence. Based on these findings, we believe that EUS-guided drainage of postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses is a safe and effective method, although further large-scale investigations are required to confirm our findings.