DRAINAGE TUBE ENDOSCOPY - A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE ACUTE-PANCREATITIS

Peritoneal lavage is one of the interventional approaches that have ga ined some attention in the early, toxaemic phase of acute pancreatitis . Additionally some kind of drainage is necessary for suppurative coll ections that characterize the late phase of the disease. In both the a bove situations tube plugging is a common problem and it is usually as sociated with a relapse of the patient's septic state and newly formed collection(s) on abdominal CT. Two cases are presented, in early and in late phases respectively, in which drainage tube adoscopy (DTE) re- established tube patency and ensured drainage. DTE may represent an al ternative to surgery or to CT-guided paracentesis and evacuation of ne wly formed intra-abdominal collections secondary to tube obstruction.