PANCREATIC ABSCESSES

Objectives: The objective of our study is to determine the surgical outcome,effectiveness and the complications of computer tomography guided drainage of pancreaticabscesses. Study Design: Descriptive case series. Setting: Tertiary care hospital in KarachiPakistan. Period: Three years from November 2012 to October 2015. Methods: The patientpopulation consisted of all those patients who were diagnosed as a case of pancreatic abscessboth clinically and on radiographic analysis, and who had to have the computer tomographyguided percutaneous drainage of the abscess. The drained fluid was sent for histopathologicand cytological analysis, and a drain was placed in the pancreatic tissue for further collectionof the discharge material. Patients were followed for up to 40 days post operatively, and variouscomplications were noted. Results: The patient population consisted of n=550 patients ofacute pancreatitis, out of which n=30 (5.45%) were diagnosed cases of pancreatic abscess, outof these patients n=5 (16.67%) were males and n=25 (83.33%) were females, and the meanage of patients was 44 +/- 11 years. In n=24 (80%) of patients the abscess resolved completelyin 20 to 40 days. N=5 (20%) of patients had complications and had to undergo laparotomy.Conclusion: According to the results of our study, the computer tomographic guided drainageof the pancreatic abscess is a very safe and effective procedure for the treatment of pancreaticabscess. The rate of complications is low, and patients show swift recovery post operatively.