[Percutaneous drainage of abdominal abscesses. I. Technic and results]

88 intraabdominal abscesses in 77 patients were treated by percutaneous drainage. Patients were cured in 63 percent. Complications were observed in 11 percent followed by surgery in two instances. Ten out of 75 patients (13 percent) died in the postprocedural course from multiple organ failure or postoperative complications. A fatal outcome, however, was never attributable to the percutaneous procedure. Technical considerations of percutaneous abscess drainage are described in detail. Its similarities with open drainage and advantages over septic surgery are discussed.