CT guided percutaneous drainage of hepatic abscess

ABSTRACT

Liver abscess is an infrequent surgical problem that carries high morbidity and mortality rates. The accepted method of treatment was surgical drainage and this has its potential difficulties and complications. With the advent of modern imaging techniques percutaneous drainage of hepatic abscess was introduced and popularized by many centres .We treated twelve patients with liver abscess by percutaneous indwelling catheter drainage using no. 12 or 14 F polyurethane abscess drainage tube with side holes. This was aided by the guide wire and image intensifier. We succeded to drain all patients with marked clinical improvement with no discernible complications and no mortality. Review of the literature and our experience suggest that percutaneous drainage should be the first line of management of liver abscess because of its low mortality and camplications and its high cure rate