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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Gastrointestinal Infections 2022; 12(02): 086-093
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1760740
Review Article

Review: Modern Management of Liver Abscess

Sarthak Wadhera 
1   Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Navneet Arora 
1   Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Deba Prasad Dhibar 
1   Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

An encapsulated collection of suppurated material within the liver is termed a liver abscess, which may be caused due to bacterial, parasitic, or fungal infection. Liver abscesses can be divided into infectious, iatrogenic, and malignant. Infection spreading through the biliary tract is the most common cause now. Escherichia coli, the most common organism causing liver abscess two decades ago, is replaced by Klebsiella pneumonia, accounting for 50 to 70% of cases in the Asian subcontinent; however, liver abscesses due to Entameba histolytica are also found quiet often in day to day clinical practice. Risk factors associated with the development of liver abscess are increasing age, male sex, presence of underlying diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, continuous use of proton pump inhibitors, and immunocompromised state. Fever and abdominal pain are the typical clinical symptoms of a liver abscess. Other common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, malaise, and chills. Tachycardia, right upper quadrant tenderness, and hepatomegaly are common examination findings. USG of the abdomen is performed in all suspected cases of liver abscess and has a sensitivity of 85%. Small abscesses, less than 3 to 4 cm, can be managed with antibiotics. Percutaneous drainage can be done either by single-time needle aspiration or catheter drainage.

Keywords

amoebic liver abscess - gastrointestinal infection - liver abscess - pyogenic liver abscess - single time aspiration

Ethical Statements

Not applicable.


Author Contributions

S.W.: Data collection and drafted the manuscript; N.A.: Drafted the manuscript, edited the rough draft; D.P.D: Manuscript correction and expert guidance.


Data Availability Statement

There is no data associated with this work.




Publication History

Received: 20 April 2022

Accepted: 01 August 2022

Article published online:
22 September 2023

© 2023. Gastroinstestinal Infection Society of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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