Percutaneous drainage of abscess

[julip3]

My husband was just diagnosed with an intra-abdominal abscess in his right ileo-psoas region.

They want to do percutaneous drainage. It would be a needle drainage guided by CT scan, most likely entering his lower back.

Has anyone here had this done?

We are both totally freaked out. My husband says he will refuse the procedure if he is not sedated.

We won't be able to contact the radiologist doing the procedure until next week, because there is not one assigned to the case yet.

We have tons of questions. Any sedation, pain control? Any bowel prep? Does he have to drink contrast again? Can he get any anti-nausea meds before the contrast? What is recovery time? Will he have a drainage catheter placed? Will he have to be off work at all?

 

[DustyKat]

Hi julip,

My son had the procedure done last January, he also had a psoas abscess. He was in hospital and things are a little blurry to me but if I remember correctly...

He was not sedated, it was done via local anaesthetic and approach was from the front. He said he could feel pressure and it was a little uncomfortable but nothing major. He did request Morphine on return to the ward though and he only needed the one dose.

He did not have oral contrast prior to the procedure.

There was no recovery time.

Matt did have a drain in place and few days later went for a sinogram to see if he had a fistula, which he did. Because of this his drain stayed in place for 3 months until surgery. Some people have their abscesses drained there and then and that is it and others have a drain in for a few days, so treatment will be dependent on whether there is a fistula connected to it.

I can't comment on the work aspect of things but if it is a simple procedure I don't imagine he would need to take time off work other than the day of the procedure. If he has a drain inserted it may be a little different. Matt went to school with the drain in place and I had to flush and dress it twice a day.

Hope that helps! If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Dusty. xxx

 

[DustyKat]

Sorry, I just your update on the Your Story forum.

To be honest, we were told following the finding of Matt's fistula that there would be next to no hope of the fistula closing on it's own and surgery was the only option because fistula's originating in the terminal ileum are notoriously difficult to treat with medication.

Dusty. :hug:

 

[julip3]

Thanks dusty for the replies. He talked to his GI after I posted this and she said he would need surgery eventually. She said they may be able to delay if the drainage goes well.

All this comes as a shock as he has been feeling so well the past 2 months, looking and acting more like himself.

He has a limited amount of sick time, and it would be nice if he had some time to build se more up.

The whole thing is extremely frustrating.