Accuracy of grey-scale ultrasound diagnosis of abdominal and pelvic abscesses in 220 patients.

The accuracy of grey-scale ultrasound in the detection and localisation of abdominal and pelvic abscesses was assessed retrospectively in 220 patients in whom an abscess had been suspected at presentation. Thirty-six out of forty abdominal abscesses were correctly diagnosed (90%), while an abscess was correctly excluded in 112 out of 113 patients (99%). Thirty-two out of thirty-three pelvic abscesses were diagnosed (97%), and a pelvic abscess was correctly excluded in 33 out of 34 patients (97%). Thus the overall accuracy of the method was 96.8%, with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 98.6%.