[Ultrasound-guided puncture. A modern treatment of liver abscess].

The treatment of liver abscesses has benefitted from progress in imaging, particularly ultrasonography which allows simple and reliable aspiration and drainage. A series of 32 cases is reported, consisting of 29 pyogenic abscesses and 3 amoebic abscesses. Eighty-one per cent of patients were cured by aspiration and/or drainage, while 19% of patients had to be operated. The mean hospital stay was 11 days. Failures of ultrasound-guided aspiration are essentially due to multifocal abscesses caused by multiple organisms.