Radiology, Vol 161, 341-344, Copyright © 1986 by Radiological Society of North America
Postappendectomy fluid collections in children: incidence, nature, and evolution evaluated using US
DE Baker, TM Silver, AG Coran and KI McMillin
At the authors' medical center, most patients with postappendectomy fluid
collections are treated conservatively. Thirty-two (15%) of 216 children
underwent postoperative sonography following appendectomies. In ten
patients (31%), a total of 16 fluid collections were found on the initial
postoperative sonogram. In the seven patients (70%) whose fluid collections
were confined to the pelvis, the condition was treated conservatively and
it resolved in 2-9 weeks. In three patients, fluid collections required
surgical drainage and proved to be abscesses. In two of the three patients,
abscesses were multiple and widely distributed in the abdomen, and the
patients were clinically ill. The authors conclude that clinically
symptomatic fluid collections develop postoperatively in approximately 5%
of children who have undergone appendectomy for acute appendicitis and that
the size and course of the fluid collection can be objectively monitored
using sonography. Such fluid collections confined to the pelvis ultimately
resolve with conservative, nonoperative therapy, although resolution may
take up to 2 months.
