Percutaneous drainage of abdominal abscesses: are large-bore catheters necessary?

Objective: To find out whether small-bore catheters (7 F) are as effective as the 14F sump drains generally used for drainage of abdominal abscesses.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: University hospital, Switzerland.

Subjects: 64 patients with intra-abdominal abscesses.

Interventions: 40 were drained with 7F pigtail catheters and 24 by 14F sump drains.

Results: Drainage was successful in 34/40 (85%) and 20/24 (83%), respectively. There were 3 recurrences in the small-bore and 1 in the large-bore group (p=0.4). Mean drainage time was 8 (SD 5) days and 11 (SD 11) days, respectively (p=0.29). One patient (3%) developed a complication in the small-bore group and 2 (8%) in the large-bore group. 4/6 failures in the small-bore group and 1/4 failures in the large-bore group were pancreatic abscesses.

Conclusions: We conclude that percutaneous drainage with small-bore catheters is as effective as drainage with bigger tubes.