Radiology, Vol 167, 431-434, Copyright © 1988 by Radiological Society of North America
Pancreatic pseudocysts drained through a percutaneous transgastric approach: further experience
FR Matzinger, CS Ho, AC Yee and RR Gray
Department of Radiology, Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Percutaneous transgastric placement of a drainage catheter under
ultrasonographic and fluoroscopic guidance was performed in 12 patients
with pancreatic pseudocysts. Complete resolution of the pseudocysts was
obtained in eight patients, and the result was indeterminate in one patient
due to early death from unrelated causes. Surgical intervention followed in
two patients, one with a multiloculated pseudocyst that was incompletely
drained and another with a pseudocyst that became infected following
drainage. In one patient with metastatic tumor to the head of the pancreas
the pseudocyst resolved initially, but a pseudocyst later recurred. There
were no pancreaticocutaneous fistulas or other major complications. The
transgastric route of pseudocyst drainage is safe and effective, and it
offers a low risk of recurrence and fistula formation.
