Percutaneous drainage of 300 intraperitoneal abscesses with long-term follow-up

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous drainage of intraperitoneal abscesses with attention to recurrence and failure rates. A retrospective analysis of percutaneous treatment of 300 intraperitoneal abscesses in 255 patients (147 male, 108 female; average age: 38 years; range: 40 days to 90 years) for whom at least I-year follow-up data were available was performed. Abscesses were drained with fluoroscopic, sonographic, or computed tomographic guidance. Nine abscesses were drained by simple aspiration; catheter drainage either by Seldinger or trocar technique was used in the remaining 291 abscesses with 6F to 14 F catheters. Initial cure and failure rates were 68% (203/300) and 12% (36/300), respectively. Sixty-one abscesses (20%) were either palliated or temporized. The recurrence rate was 4% (12/300) and nine of them were cured by recatheterization, whereas three of them were treated by medication or surgery. The overall success and failure rates were 91% (273/300) and 9% (27/300), respectively, with temporized, palliated, and recatheterized recurred abscesses. The 30-day mortality rate was 3.1% (8/255). The mean duration of catheterization was 13 days. Intraperitoneal abscesses with safe access routes should be drained percutaneously because of high success and low morbidity, mortality, and recurrence rates.