Efficacy of percutaneous abscess drainage in patients with vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
OBJECTIVE
We reviewed a 4-year experience draining fluid collections infected with vancomycin-resistant enterococci to determine the outcome of percutaneous intervention in patients with this highly resistant and increasingly common organism.


METHODS
Charts of patients from whom vancomycin-resistant enterococci had been isolated during percutaneous drainage were reviewed to determine patient response to drainage, catheter management, and outcome of treatment.


RESULTS
Twenty-one patients underwent percutaneous drainage of 28 fluid collections from which vancomycin-resistant enterococci were isolated, including 16 intraabdominal abscesses, seven biliary or urinary obstructions, and five empyemas. The drainage of 27 (96%) of 28 collections were technically successful. In seven patients, drainage provided the first isolation of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from the patient. Five patients also had blood cultures with positive findings for vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and 14 collections were coinfected with other bacteria or with fungi. Twenty collections (71%) or obstructions were successfully treated with percutaneous drainage. Drainage was unsuccessful in treating eight collections in seven patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite high-level antibiotic resistance, fluid collections infected with vancomycin-resistant enterococci can be successfully drained percutaneously, resulting in a favorable likelihood of recovery for patients.
Catalano
O A
OA
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
Hahn
P F
PF
Hooper
D C
DC
Mueller
P R
PR
D000038:Abscess / Q000628:therapy*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D004322:Drainage; D016983:Enterococcus; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance