Presentation, management and outcomes of iliopsoas abscess at a University Teaching Hospital in Nepal

OBJECTIVES: Iliopsoas abscess (IPA) is an uncommon clinical disease and is often missed to diagnose due to vague clinical presentation. Early treatment with drainage and appropriate antibiotic therapy is necessary before sepsis sets in and become lethal. We conducted this study to evaluate clinical features, etiology, management strategies, and outcomes in patients with IPA from a University Teaching Hospital in Nepal. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 32 consecutive IPA cases managed at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Nepal for the period of January 2019 to February 2022 was carried out. RESULTS: The mean age was 42.5 ± 19.1 years (range, 19–75 years) and the male: female ratio was 2.2:1. Two-thirds or more patients presented with fever, limp, fixed flexion deformity and/or low back pain. Ultrasonography (US) was diagnostic in 27 (84.4%) patients. Eighteen (56.3%) patients had primary IPAs, and 14 (43.7%) had secondary IPAs. Thirty (93.7%) patients were managed with US guided percutaneous drainage (PCD) and 2 (6.2%) patients underwent open surgical drainage. Drainage procedures were combined with antibiotics in all patients. Pus culture showed Staphylococcus aureus growing in the majority of cases (10 of 23, 43.5%). The hospital stay was longer in patients treated via surgical drainage compared to those who received PCD: 13 days (range 12–14 days) vs. 6.6 days (range 4–13 days), respectively. Recurrence of abscess was seen in 4 (12.5%) cases and all were successfully managed via a second PCD. There was no mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Varying clinical presentation of iliopsoas abscess demand a high index of suspicion for early diagnosis. Initial imaging modality in suspected case of IPA is US. US-guided PCD along with the appropriate antibiotics is a successful frontline treatment of IPAs with shorter hospital stay.