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Subphrenic abscess is a rare complication of amebic liver abscess, its diagnosis and treatment are problematic. We present one patient with a right subphrenic abscess secondary to amebiasis. Treatment with chloramphenicol and percutaneous drainage had good response. Radiological intervention is an option in treatment of this kind of complication.
A subphrenic abscess is an abscess which forms below the diaphragm and above the transverse colon. Patients in the postoperative period following gastric, esophageal or hepatic surgery are at risk of developing a subphrenic abscess especially if they are older, if they develop a leak at an anastomosis site or if there was a high operative blood loss. Nurses who are aware of high-risk patients should increase their observations of the signs and symptoms of early subphrenic abscess. Subphrenic abscesses are often managed on the general nursing units but signs of impending respiratory failure or circulatory collapse may warrant transfer of the patient to an intensive care unit. Nursing interventions are then focused on maintaining the body systems, evaluating the effects of the medical and nursing interventions and supporting the patient and family who may be very anxious at the severity of the unanticipated complication.
Forty subphrenic abscesses were drained percutaneously in 37 patients. These abscesses were subsequent to abdominal surgery (28 patients), biliary obstruction and/or fistula (six patients), trauma (two patients) or acute pancreatitis (one patient). The procedures were usually monitored by duplex sonography and fluoroscopy (35 out of 40 cases), with an angled subcostal approach to the subphrenic space in over 85% of the cases. Forty-three drainage catheters were inserted using the Seldinger method; 37 (86%) had a size of 12 F or more, 21 were 16 F in size. Only two out of 43 catheters were double-lumen sump drains. The clinical condition improved after insertion of the catheter in all 37 patients. Definitive successful drainage, defined as hospital discharge without complementary surgery, was achieved in 32 patients (87%), without major complications. A temporizing effect was obtained in three additional patients (8%) who underwent curative surgery for the underlying process after complete drainage of the abscess. Two patients died from multiple organ failure before their abscess healed. Considerations for successful drainage of subphrenic abscesses include a good knowledge of the subphrenic space anatomy, the use of large-bore drainage catheters and the recognition and correct management of underlying enteric, biliary or pancreatic fistulas.
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A case of an hepatic abscess that developed after percutaneous transhepatic drainage of a subphrenic abscess is presented. The location of the abscess immediately along the tract of the drainage catheter and the similar organisms recovered from bacteriologic culture suggest that the abscess was related to direct contamination along the tract of the drainage catheter. The potential for abscess formation within the liver should be considered in the choice of access route for percutaneous drainage of retroabdominal abscesses. It may be preferable to avoid transhepatic drainage in patients in whom it is anticipated that the catheter drainage will require considerable length of time.
Subphrenic abscess will continually plague the post-laparotomy patient. The high mortality associated with these abscesses can be reduced by diagnosing and draining them early. In 42 patients with 55 subphrenic abscesses, the most important diagnostic modality proved to be conventional radiographs of the abdomen allowing 65% of the subphrenic abscesses to be detected. Other procedures were largely confirmatory in suspicious cases. Thus ultrasound is useful in right subphrenic suprahepatic abscesses while modified upper and lower gastrointestinal studies allow rapid diagnosis of extra-intestinal abscess gas or mass effect.
Subphrenic abscess is reported in two patients, one previously operated on for pancreatic carcinoma and the other for clear cell carcinoma of the left kidney. The subphrenic abscess presented with cachexia and low grade fever six months and one year after surgery. Metastatic carcinoma was erroneously diagnosed in both patients. Despite massive antibiotic treatment, both patients succumbed to sepsis. Because of the inherent diagnostic challenge, delineation of a subphrenic abscess in cancer patients without clear-cut evidence of a metastatic spread is crucial.
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Although extraserous drainage of subphrenic abscesses has gained wide acceptance, there is some renewed enthusiasm for the more frequent use of a transperitoneal operation because it affords the opportunity to discover unsuspected pathologic conditions, particularly heterotopic abscess. In 44 patients with postoperative subphrenic abscesses, the approach to drainage was selected on the basis of the clinical circumstances. Among 28 patients whose abscesses were drained extraserously, the incidence of heteroptic and recurrent abscesses was low. No serious complications of peritoneal or wound soilage occurred after transperitoneal drainage in 16 patients, yet the problems of inadequate drainage and heteroptic abscess were not eliminated. Celiotomy prior to definitive abscess localization was required for 13 patients. Five patients died. The operative approach should be based on the clinical assessment of the patient and particularly on the probability that multicentric intra-abdominal pathologic conditions exist.
Four septic patients with suspected subphrenic abscess were evaluated with gallium-67 citrate and technetium-99m labeled radiopharmaceuticals. Gallium-67 scintigraphs proved instrumental in correctly diagnosing and localizing one left and three right subphrenic abscesses. Gallium-67 scintigraphy can be a useful noninvasive technique for evaluating patients with suspected subphrenic abscess.
The presence of a subphrenic abscess can be established by its soft tissue mass effect especially when it contains gas. In the five patients presented here, gas-containing subphrenic abscesses were mimicked by air in loops of ileum; partially loculated air due to subphrenic adhesions in the post-laparotomy patient; layering of denser barium below with gastric content above in a patient with gastric outlet obstruction; and gas in the renal bed after nephrectomy.
From 1985 to 1989, a total of 598 gastric cancer patients underwent gastrectomies in the First Department of Surgery at Kurume University School of Medicine. Of these, 24 patients (4.0%) incurred a subphrenic abscess, postoperatively. Subphrenic abscesses occurred most frequently after total gastrectomies at a rate of 17 of 197 (8.8%) cases. Leaking gastrointestinal anastomoses were responsible for 12 of the 17 (70.5%) abscesses. In 384 cases of distal gastrectomy, only 6 (1.6%) cases with a subphrenic abscess occurred, and only 3 were due to anastomotic leakage. Among the total of 24 cases with subphrenic abscesses, 16 (67%) were related to an anastomotic leakage including a pancreatic fistula, while the other 8 (33%) showed no leakage by contrast roentgenography. When chest roentgenography shows a pleural effusion and an elevation of the diaphragm, then a subphrenic abscess must be suspected. The majority of patients were treated by replacing the intraabdominal drainage catheter inserted during the gastrectomy with a larger catheter. The overall operative mortality rate was 4.1% due to a death in only one (MOF) patient.
Main symptoms and causes of subphrenic abscess are described. Localization is possible using Gallium 67 scanning. Prophylaxis and surgical approach are illustrated. In 75 patients of the surgical clinic of the University of Hamburg, the subphrenic abscess was drained by an anterolateral extrapleural incision through the diaphragm. Positive identification and localization are necessary to prevent contamination of the peritoneal cavity. Scintigraphic Gallium 67 scanning is also useful to identify synchronous subphrenic (bilateral) abscesses.
Subphrenic abscess is still a significant hazard which complicates surgical procedures as well as certain abdominal catastrophes. This is a report of 88 patients with subphrenic abscess at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York from 1954 through 1971. There were 46 males and 42 females, ranging from 2 to 88 years. Operations on the stomach, duodenum and biliary tract were the major causes. The causative organisms in order of frequency were: E coli (41.6%), Staphylococcus (41.6%), Aerobacter aerogenes (23.3%), Proteus (20%), Streptococci (18.3%) and Pseudomonas (8.3%). Penicillin and tetracycline, the antibiotics most commonly chosen on an empiric basis, proved effective in only 38% of cases. On the other hand, kanamycin, chloramphenicol and cephalothin were effective in 90%, 85% and 70% of cases respectively. The overall mortality rate was 15%. Nine of the 21 patients (42.8%) treated with antibiotics alone died while 11 of 67 patients (10.6%) treated with antibiotics and surgical drainage died. Some of the latter deaths occurred in patients treated with prolonged antibiotic therapy and operated on only as a last resort. In this series subphrenic abscess was best treated by early surgical drainage combined with the use of appropriate antibiotics.
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