Unruptured amoebic liver abscess presenting as acute abdomen

Unruptured amoebic liver abscess is usually not regarded as a surgical emergency. At University College Hospital, Ibadan, in a two-year period from June 1975 to May 1977, six cases of unruptured amoebic liver abscess underwent emergency exploratory laparotomy because they presented as cases of acute abdomen. The initial diagnoses made by senior physicians included perforated duodenal ulcer, intestinal obstruction, cholecystitis and appendicitis. All patients had persistent draining sinuses after surgery for periods ranging from one to five months. Neither the trophozoites nor the cystic forms of Entamoeba histolytica were present in the "abscess" which was essentially necrotic liver tissue. The diagnosis of amoebic liver abscess was based on clinical features: typical "anchovy" or chocolate-coloured aspirate from the liver, response to anti-amoebic therapy and serological studies.