Radiologic management of fluid collections in children

Percutaneous catheter drainage procedures have become widely accepted in the management of intraabdominal fluid collections in adults. We report our experience in 12 children with 15 fluid collections who underwent 22 procedures and emphasize the usefulness of this procedure in the pediatric population. Thirteen fluid collections were cured by the procedure. One collection improved with the procedure but needed definitive surgical correction to effect a cure. One other patient with an intestinal fistula did not respond. The complicated nature of many of our cases coupled with the high cure rate (87%) and low complication rate (4.5%) makes percutaneous drainage an excellent alternative to surgical drainage under general anesthesia.