Pancreatic abscess following acute pancreatitis

Without surgical treatment, pancreatic abscess remains a highly lethal complication of acute pancreatitis. Many surgical series have reported mortality rates of 32 to 65 per cent in treated cases. Although pancreatic abscess is a rare condition, it is more common in patients with severe pancreatitis. A retrospective study of 130 patients admitted to our unit with severe acute pancreatitis during the period from 1965 to 1987 revealed 18 cases of pancreatic abscess. All pancreatic abscesses were primary in nature, and no infected pseudocysts were included in the series. Clinical surveillance, repeated laboratory tests, conventional radiology, and especially ultrasonography and CT scan all contributed to the preoperative diagnosis. The applied treatment was surgical debridement of all necrotic tissue and either local or extensive external drainage. In 12 cases this procedure was combined with other surgical interventions. The recorded mortality rate was 16.66 per cent. Factors adversely affecting survival include: 1) severity of precipitating pancreatitis; 2) difficulty in making early and accurate diagnosis of the pancreatic abscess; 3) marked tendency for recurrence of sepsis; and 4) life-threatening associated complications and/or diseases.