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. MATERIALS AND 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. CONCLUSION. 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.