Percutaneous drainage of iliopsoas abscess in Crohn's disease

Iliopsoas abscess is a rare but serious complication of Crohn's disease. Initial treatment by surgical drainage of the abscess alone or in combination with bowel resection has been recommended. Percutaneous catheter abscess drainage (PAD) has not been described. We report 3 patients with this uncommon complication of Crohn's disease in whom PAD was attempted. It was successful in 2 cases but failed in 1, who went on to have the abscess drained surgically. We suggest that PAD can be a useful initial treatment to improve the patient's condition prior to definitive surgical resection.