Cone-Beam CT with Fluoroscopic Overlay Versus Conventional CT Guidance for Percutaneous Abdominopelvic Abscess Drain...

To compare technical success and procedure time for percutaneous abscess drain placement with fluoroscopic cone-beam computed tomography (CT) and two-axis needle guidance versus conventional CT guidance.

A total of 85 consecutive patients undergoing abdominopelvic abscess drain placement guided by fluoroscopic cone-beam CT or conventional CT were retrospectively reviewed over a 2-year period. Forty-three patients underwent drain placement with cone-beam CT using XperGuide navigation and 42 underwent placement with conventional 64-slice CT. Patient characteristics, median abscess size (6.8 cm vs 7.8 cm; P = .14), and depth to abscess (7.2 cm vs 7.7 cm; P = .88) were similar between groups.

Technical success rates were 98% (42 of 43) in the cone-beam CT group and 100% (42 of 42) in the conventional CT group (P = .32), with a 10-F pigtail drainage catheter inserted in the majority of cases. There were no complications in either group. There was no significant difference in effective dose between groups (9.6 mSv vs 10.7 mSv; P = .30). Procedure times were significantly shorter in the cone-beam CT group (43 min vs 62 min; P = .02). In addition, during the study period, there was a gradual improvement in procedure time in the cone-beam CT group (50% reduction), whereas procedure time did not change for the conventional CT group.

Cone-beam CT guidance appears to be equivalent to conventional CT guidance for drain placement into medium-sized abdominopelvic collections, yielding similar technical success rates and radiation doses, with the additional benefit of reduced procedure times.