Primary pyogenic abscess of the psoas muscle

During a six-year period, eleven persons with primary pyogenic abscess of the psoas muscle were treated at the Mackay Memorial Hospital. Five were males and six were females and their average age was 47.2 years (range 6-83 years). The abscess was identified by CT in 7 patients, MRI in 2 and ultrasonography in 1. One abscess was found during laparotomy. Treatment included extraperitoneal drainage of the abscess in 7 patients and CT guided aspiration in 3. One patient improved after antibiotic therapy and they all recovered after treatment. The diagnosis of primary pyogenic abscess requires a high index of suspicion and the best treatment is early operative drainage and administration of systemic antibiotics.