Percutaneous drainage of abscesses: a report of 100 patients.

One hundred patients had abscesses drained percutaneously in a variety of sites. Eighty-five per cent were treated successfully with a 6% mortality. There are now several large series in the literature, totalling over 250 patients with an average cure rate of over 80% and a mortality of under 5%. Percutaneous drainage of abscesses should become the treatment of choice in a vast majority of patients in whom the abscess can safely be reached.