Zahid Khan, Habib Bakhtyar, Inayatur Rehman.
Outcome of surgical management of liver abscess.
J Med Sci Jan ;17(2):64-6.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to know the demographic characteristics, outcome of Pyogenic and amoebic liver abscess management and to document their complications. Material and Methods: This observational study was conducted on 30 patients with symptoms, signs and imaging studies suggestive of liver abscess, who presented to the Surgical Department of Khyber Teaching Hospital from January 2001 to December 2001. All patients underwent open surgical drainage. Patients were followed for four weeks.Patients under 12 years, pregnant ladies, with hydatid liver cyst, liver cirrhosis, carcinoma liver or liver secondaries were excluded. Results: The ages of the patients ranged from 14 years to 70 years. Male to female ratio was 3:1. Twenty-four (80%) patients were Pakistanis and 6(20%) were Afghan refugees. Eighteen (60%) patients belonged to low socio economic group. Twenty-four (83.33%) patients showed complete resolution of abscess cavity while 2 (6.67%) patients had persistent cavity and were treated conservatively. Complications noted were persistent bleeding/biliary leakage in 3 (10%) patients, wound infection in 2 (6.67%) patients, persistent cavity with right plural effusion in 2 (6.67%) patients and iatrogenic ileal perforation in 2 (6.6%) patients. Conclusions: Pyogenic liver abscess is relatively more common in young males. People belonging to low socio economic group were more frequently affected. The outcome of surgical management is excellent. Complications were less and manageable

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