Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Catheter Drainage in Periappendiceal abscess Management: Retrospective Insights

To retrospectively evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) combined with antibiotic therapy versus emergency laparoscopic surgery (ELS) for treating periappendiceal abscesses.

A retrospective study was conducted on 90 patients diagnosed with periappendiceal abscesses at Harbin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between March 2022 and December 2023. The study compared clinical outcomes between two groups: one receiving percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) with antibiotic therapy and the other undergoing emergency laparoscopic surgery. The comparison encompassed key outcomes such as operative time, gastrointestinal function recovery, length of hospital stays, postoperative complication rate, recurrence rate, and the need for additional interventions.

The PCD group exhibited a significantly shorter operative time (P=0.02) and fewer postoperative complications (P=0.008) compared to the ELS group. During outpatient follow-up, six patients in the PCD group had a recurrence of appendicitis, which was statistically significant compared to the ELS group.

Ultrasound-guided PCD has been shown to be effective and safe in the management of periappendiceal abscesses in our single-center clinical study. It offers several benefits over ELS, such as reduced operative time and a decreased incidence of postoperative complications. Our results suggest that PCD, in conjunction with antibiotic therapy, is a feasible alternative to surgery, significantly reducing patient discomfort and healthcare resource consumption. However, these findings are specific to our center, and further multicenter studies are required to confirm these results and to establish guidelines for the optimal application of PCD in clinical practice.