A comparative study of different modalities of treatment of liver abscess

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of conservative medical treatment versus minimal invasive surgical techniques like percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) and percutaneous needle aspiration (PNA) in the management of liver abscess. Material and methods: All patients with liver abscess who were admitted in Surgery from October 2013 to June 2014 were included in this study and were exposed to four different treatment modalities. The patients were first treated with combination of medicine (Option - A). If they failed to respond to this treatment then they were subjected to ultrasound guided aspiration (Option - B). If Option - B failed they were exposed to pig tail catheter placement (Option - C). Final option was surgical drainage (Option - D) if it was rupture liver abscess and if the patient presented with co morbid conditions like septicaemia and peritonitis. PNA was repeated every third day if the cavity size had not declined to 50% of the original for up to three times. Persistence of cavity or of clinical symptoms was considered failure of treatment. Results: Out of 51 patients, 14 patients responded to drug therapy alone. 34 patients required ultrasound guided aspiration and Pig tail catheter placement and 3 patients required open surgical drainage. A combination of drug therapy and ultrasound guided needle aspiration was effective for majority of 83% patients Duration of hospital stay was similar in the two groups. Conclusion: Minimal surgical interventions like PCD and PNA are better than conservative treatment for the management of liver abscesses of size >5 cm, in terms of duration to attain clinical relief and duration for which parenteral antibiotics are needed. Pyogenic liver abscess are less common than amoebic liver abscess. Right lobe of the liver is most commonly involved in both types of abscesses. Radio-imaging techniques like ultrasonography (US) and computerized tomography (CT) are the modalities of choice for investigation purposes. Treatment modalities of these abscesses, first emphasizes on medical treatment, but if it is unsuccessful then only the surgical intervention should be taken up. Laparotomy and Drainage or Laparoscopic Drainage remains the standard of care for ruptured liver abscess.