Symptoms:

• Abdominal mass
• Abdominal pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Inability to eat
• Nausea and vomiting

Signs and tests:

Patients with pancreatic abscesses usually have had pancreatitis. They usually develop fevers and abdominal pain, and have evidence of an abscess on an ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI of the abdomen.

Treatment:

It may be possible to drain the abscess through the skin (percutaneous). Surgery to drain the abscess and remove dead tissue may be required.

Expectations (prognosis):

How the person does depends on how severe the infection is. The death rate from undrained pancreatic abscesses is very high.

Complications:

• Multiple abscesses
• Sepsis

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if you have persistent abdominal pain with fever or other signs of a pancreatic abscess, particularly if you have recently had a pancreatic pseudocyst or pancreatitis.

Prevention:

Adequate drainage of a pancreatic pseudocyst may help prevent some cases of pancreatic abscess. However, in many cases the disorder is not preventable.