Postoperative abscesses with enteric communication: percutaneous treatment.

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Interventional Radiology
• Surgical Oncology

Background:

• Abscesses with enteric communication present unique challenges for percutaneous treatment due to continuous gastrointestinal secretions.
• Standard percutaneous techniques require modification when managing these complex abscesses in patients without inflammatory bowel disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy and outcomes of percutaneous treatment for abscesses with enteric communication in patients without inflammatory bowel disease.
• To compare the success rates and complications of percutaneous therapy versus surgical intervention in this patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 17 abscesses with enteric communication treated percutaneously in 16 patients.
• Patients included had no history of inflammatory bowel disease.
• Data collected included cure rates, duration of drainage, morbidity, and mortality.

Main Results:

• A long-term cure rate of 71% was achieved with percutaneous treatment.
• Pancreatic involvement in the abscess-bowel communication reduced the cure rate to 50% and increased drainage duration.
• Percutaneous therapy demonstrated minimal morbidity and no mortality directly attributable to the procedure.

Conclusions:

• Percutaneous treatment of abscesses with enteric communication is a feasible and effective alternative to surgery for selected patients.
• Outcomes are negatively impacted by pancreatic involvement or underlying diseased bowel, suggesting these factors diminish success rates.
• Further research into optimizing percutaneous techniques for complex cases is warranted.