Abdominal abscesses in patients having surgery: an application of Ga-67 scintigraphic and computed tomographic scanning.
OBJECTIVE
Early detection of occult abscesses is important in patients with persistent fever after colorectal surgery. In this study, the authors evaluated the relative merits of computed tomographic (CT) and Ga-67 scans in the detection of intra-abdominal abscesses in patients who had just undergone colorectal surgery.


METHODS
Thirty-four patients who underwent colorectal surgery were enrolled in the study. Ga-67 and CT scans were obtained in all patients. Ga-67 scintigraphy was performed 24 hours, and later as needed, after the injection of 111 MBq (3 mCi) Ga-67 citrate.


RESULTS
Intra-abdominal abscesses were diagnosed in 16 of the 34 (47%) patients who had colorectal surgery. For CT scans, the overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity rates were 97.1%, 93.7%, and 100%, respectively. For the Ga-67 scans, the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity rates were 91.2%, 100%, and 95.2%, respectively. In addition, the whole-body Ga-67 scans successfully detected two cases of extra-abdominal infection, one case of pneumonia, and one case of cellulitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Computed tomographic and Ga-67 scans offer complementary information and play an important role in the investigation of sources of infection in patients after colorectal surgery.
Tsai
S C
SC
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
Chao
T H
TH
Lin
W Y
WY
Wang
S J
SJ
D018784:Abdominal Abscess / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002951:Citrates; D003106:Colon / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005708:Gallium; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012007:Rectum / Q000601:surgery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D002951:Citrates; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D005708:Gallium; C103850:gallium citrate