Diagnostic imaging of abdominal fluid collections and abscesses

With today's advanced technology, the clinician and radiologist have a number of techniques with which to evaluate the abdomen for fluid collections and/or abscesses. Three points are clear from the plethora of literature concerning this subject: the need to individualize the clinical and imaging approach to each patient suspected of an abnormal fluid collection or abscess, the need to individualize the imaging procedure based upon what is done best at the institution, and the need for percutaneous aspiration of all fluid collections for diagnosis. No single imaging test is totally sensitive or specific for the detection of an infected fluid collection. Overall, CT probably does provide the most accurate means to detect an intra-abdominal abscess. Because of this, and because it is less operator dependent than ultrasound, CT is used most often as the procedure of choice at our institution.