Intraabdominal serous fluid collections after appendectomy: a normal sonographic finding.
OBJECTIVE
The significance of sonographic findings 1 week or less after appendectomy is difficult to evaluate without knowing the inconsequential abnormalities that may occur in these patients. Accordingly, we performed postoperative sonography on patients who had a normal course after appendectomy to determine the findings that can be considered normal within 1 week after surgery.


METHODS
Forty-four patients who had an appendectomy for acute appendicitis and who had normal findings at clinical follow-up 5 days and 6 months later were included in the study. In all patients, sonograms were obtained on the fifth postoperative day and interpreted by a radiologist who did not know the surgical findings.


RESULTS
Ten fluid collections (23%) were found in the pericecal area, ranging in size from 10 x 10 mm to 40 x 20 mm. The collections were hypoechoic or anechoic, crescent-shaped, and immobile. Fluid collections were more common in cases of suppurative appendixes (6/20, 30%) than in cases of inflamed appendixes (4/19, 21%) and in retrocecal appendixes (3/9, 33%) than in normally located appendixes (7/34, 21%). However, the differences were not statistically significant (p > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Inconsequential fluid collections are detected with considerable frequency on postoperative sonograms 5 days after an appendectomy. Consequently, not every fluid collection should be considered an abscess.
Service de Radiologie, Hôpital Laënnec, Paris, France.
B
B
Aveline
R
R
Guimaraes
N
N
Bely
J P
JP
Salles
P H
PH
Cugnenc
G
G
Frija
D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001062:Appendectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008196:Lymph / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography