CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage of pancreatic postoperative collections

Objective: To examine the clinical characteristics of fluid collections after pancreatic surgery and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage (CT-PCD).Material and methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was carried out. 51 patients enrolled in this study underwent CT-PCD for collections after pancreatic surgery. The clinical and imaging data were collected and analysed.Results: In all 51 cases, CT scans showed that the samples were collected from the upper abdomen in 94.1% (48/51) of the patients. Apparent clinical symptoms before puncture manifested in 88.2% (45/51) of the patients. The average interval between surgery and puncture was 14.3 ± 7.9 days. In 76.4% (39/51) of the patients, the abdominal drainage catheter inserted during surgery was still not removed during CT-PCD. Amylase levels in drainage fluid were more than three times that of serum amylase in 66.7% (24/36) of the patients. The drainage fluid of 37 patients was sent for bacterial cultures; of these, 64.9% (24/37) tested positive. Full recovery after single puncture procedure occurred in 84.3% (43/51) of the patients. The incidence of puncture-related complications was 3.9%.Conclusions: Pancreatic postoperative collections requiring clinical puncture were mostly located in the upper abdomen. CT-PCD is a safe technique with good therapeutic effects in patients with collections.