Postoperative abscesses

Postoperative infection is a dreaded complication of abdominal surgery, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. Knowledge of the risk factors, involved in the occurrence of postoperative infection should guide preoperative management and preparation for surgery, as well as the surgical approach itself, to minimize postoperative infection. Once abdominal infection has developed, its early recognition is essential to institute early therapy. Modem imaging techniques do not only allow delineation of the topography of the abscess(es) but also their drainage via minimally invasive techniques. Therapy for intraabdominal abscesses should be tailored to the individual health state of the patient and the local intraabdominal infection to acquire an optimal outcome and to limit morbidity and mortality. These issues will be discussed in this chapter.