Non-surgical Drainage of Intra-abdominal and Mediastinal Abscesses: a Report of Twelve Cases

Twelve patients with intra-abdominal or mediastinal abscesses were treated by percutaneous drainage. Three abscesses were subphrenic, three were adjacent to enteric leaks, two were intrahepatic, two were pancreatic pseudocysts, one was a pancreatic abscess extending to the lesser sac, and one was an infected adrenal hematoma. All 12 lesions were entered percutaneously using fluoroscopic guidance without traumatizing the adjacent normal tissue. Localization was frequently aided by computed tomography. Various catheters were positioned using basic angiographic techniques. Following drainage all patients had a favorable clinical response. Seven of the 12 patients required no surgical management. Careful radiologic follow-up and frequent changing of catheters was necessary in six of the patients. Two patients benefited from the addition of auxiliary drains. Five of the 12 patients were electively operated upon because of incomplete drainage of the abscess cavity. Causes of failure were: persistent anastomotic leak (two patients), sequestered, loculated extension of abscess cavity (two patients), or necrotic, viscous hepatic tissue requiring removal at laparotomy (one patient).