Conservative Treatment of Severe Pelvic Abscess Post-Cesarean Section in China: A Case Series

The rate of cesarean section (CS) is increasing worldwide (especially in China) reaching 51-65%. Although severe pelvic abscesses after CS are rare, they are difficult to treat. To address this problem, we herein report 23 cases of severe pelvic abscesses and their treatments.

We identified 23 patients with severe pelvic abscesses using International Classification of Disease codes in a retrospective quality assurance analysis.

Among 12,640 cesarean deliveries, 23 women (0.182%) developed severe pelvic abscess. Include total numbers for treatments, 69.5% (16/23) treated with debridement, 30.4% (7/23) with antibiotics only. All patients presented with fever lasting 5-17 days. Imaging (B-ultrasound/MRI) confirmed periuterine abscess cysts in all cases. Pathogens were identified in 18 cases: bacteria (n=14), Mycoplasma suis (n=3), and Rhizopus (fungal, n=1).

Our study reported that debridement was a good treatment option, and the patient's temperatures were controlled after the pus was expelled.