Ultraschall-geführte Feinnadelpunktionen in der Diagnostik und Therapie von Leber- und Milzabszessen

: A total of 41 diagnostic and therapeutic fine-needle aspiration punctures were performed under ultrasound control in 28 patients with solitary or multiple abscesses of liver (26) or spleen (2). Nonoperative measures (drainage-fine needle puncture, local and systemic antibiotics) cured 19 patients; in nine, primary surgical abscess drainage was performed. One operated patient with multiple liver abscesses died of generalized sepsis (mortality rate 3.6%). All 14 hepatic or splenic abscesses in which percutaneous fine-needle drainage was performed, including local and systemic antibiotic administration, were treated successfully. In two of 41 fine-needle aspiration punctures bleeding complications were recorded but did not require any treatment. The method was reliable and effective in the definitive diagnosis and treatment of hepatic and splenic abscesses, with a lower complication and mortality rate than surgical drainage.