Ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage of 25 abscesses.

Twenty-four confirmed well-defined abdominal abscesses and one abscess in the thorax were percutaneously drained in 21 patients. In all, 28 puncture and drainage procedures were performed. Nineteen abscesses were drained without further surgery (76%). The high success rate, combined with minimal complications and low overall mortality (9.5%), indicates that ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage is probably the method of choice in the treatment of well-defined, unilocular abscesses, avoiding the risk of major surgery.