Psoas abscess in Bristol: a 10-year review

A consecutive series of 16 cases of psoas abscess managed over a 10-year period at the Bristol Royal Infirmary is presented. Tuberculosis accounted for 4 patients all normally resident in the United Kingdom. Intraabdominal inflammatory disorders accounted for 9 of the cases with Crohn's disease being the commonest of these with 5 cases. The remaining patients comprised 3 with primary staphylococcal abscesses, one appendicitis, one diverticulitis and 2 with colonic carcinoma. Diagnostic delay was common. Ultrasonography together with guided aspiration of pus was the most useful investigation giving the diagnosis in cases due to tuberculosis and staphylococci. The presence of gut associated organisms was indicative of gastrointestinal pathology. Four patients died and significant morbidity occurred in a further 5. We recommend effective dependent drainage together with resection of diseased gut in the cases of gastrointestinal origin.