A case of pericholecystic abscess diagnosed by ultrasonography.

Pericholecystic abscess is a serious complication of cholecystitis. Though preoperative diagnosis is easy by gray-scale ultrasonography, there has been no case reported in which the communication between pericholecystic abscess and the gallbladder was demonstrated ultrasonically. We experienced a case in which the communication route between a pericholecystic abscess and the gallbladder was successfully demonstrated by a real-time electric linear scanner. Furthermore, the abscess was successfully treated by percutaneous drainage following ultrasonically guided puncture. This success demonstrates that ultrasonography by a real-time scanner can be effective for diagnosis and treatment of acute cholecystitis and pericholecystic abscess.