Purpose: To determine the effect of extent of peritoneal contamination in enteric abscesses on final outcome and duration of percutaneous drainage.
Patients and methods: Results were retrospectively reviewed for 11 patients with varying degrees of peritoneal contamination secondary to subacute bowel perforation who were primarily treated with percutaneous drainage. Stepwise linear regression analysis of duration of drainage was performed with use of patient age and immune status, the site of bowel perforation, and the number of peritoneal compartments involved in the resultant contamination as independent variables.
Results: In 10 of 11 patients (91%) treatment of the resultant intraperitoneal collections with percutaneous drainage was successful irrespective of the extent of peritoneal contamination. There was no correlation between duration of drainage and extent of peritoneal contamination but good correlation with patient age and site of bowel perforation (r = 0.82, P = .02).
Conclusion: In patients with enteric abscesses due to subacute bowel perforation, the duration of drainage and final outcome after percutaneous drainage are independent of the extent of peritoneal contamination.