Hepatic and splenic hydatidosis managed with percutaneous aspiration, injection, and reaspiration (PAIR) of the hepatic cyst and laparoscopic splenectomy

Percutaneous Drainage in Hepatic Hydatidosis-The PAIR Technique: Concept, Technique, and Results

Over decades, surgery has been the only accepted mode of treatment for liver hydatid cysts. It had been a surgical dogma for a long that hydatid disease is an absolute contraindication for needle puncture/aspiration as it can cause anaphylaxis, death, and dissemination. We envisaged prospectively perform percutaneous drainage as a primary form of treatment for hepatic hydatidosis. Through extensive and very careful experimentation, we proved that aspiration of hydatid cysts can be performed safely and is the ideal way to manage a subset of patients with hydatid cysts in the liver. The patient and cyst characteristics good and not good for percutaneous drainage were carefully selected. The procedure of percutaneous drainage of hepatic hydatid cysts involves four sequential steps as defined in the alphabets of the title PAIR, denoting puncture (P), Aspiration (A), Instillation (I), and Reaspiration (R). During and postprocedure, we enforced strict monitoring given the anticipated anaphylaxis. The first PAIR procedure was performed in June 1988. The results of percutaneous drainage of 21 cysts in 12 patients were reported in 1991. Next, a prospective study was done to show that concomitant Albendazole therapy is recommended as an adjuvant to percutaneous drainage for hepatic hydatidosis. In a seminal prospective study comparing percutaneous drainage and surgery, we showed that percutaneous drainage is as good as surgery in the management of uncomplicated hydatid cysts with fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. Lastly, long-term follow-up results of percutaneous drainage on a large cohort of patients with hepatic hydatid cysts were reported, with excellent results and no evidence of local, peritoneal or systemic dissemination. Based on these data percutaneous drainage, the so-called PAIR technique has established itself as a novel therapeutic advance in hepatic hydatid disease.

Percutaneous treatment of hepatic cystic echinococcosis: the success of alcohol as a single endocavitary agent in PAIR, catheterization, and modified catheterization techniques

OBJECTIVES

This retrospective study aims at demonstrating the success rate, effectiveness, and advantages of alcohol as a scolicidal and sclerosing agent for the percutaneous treatment of liver hydatid cysts.

METHODS

A total of 554 liver hydatid cysts obtained from 347 patients admitted between January 2008 and February 2016 were retrospectively investigated. Of these, 435 (78.5%), 91 (16.4%), and 28 (5%) were classified as Gharbi type 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Type 1 and 2 cysts were treated using PAIR (puncture, aspiration, injection, respiration) and single puncture catheterization methods; type 3 lesions were treated using a modified catheterization technique. Alcohol was used as a scolicidal and sclerosing agent in all procedures.

RESULTS

After excluding three lesions (0.5%) because of lack of parenchymal support during catheterization, 274 (49.7%), 250 (45.3%), and 27 (4.9%) of 551 lesions were treated with PAIR, single puncture catheterization, and modified catheterization techniques, respectively. Therefore, a 99.5% of technical success rate was obtained. Major complications in 2 patients (0.5%) and minor complications were observed in 36 patients (10.3%). Mean hospital stay was 1.55±2.3 days (range: 0-23 days). Patients were followed-up for mean 19.6 months (range: 6-83 months), during which recurrences were detected in 19 patients (5.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of alcohol as a scolicidal and sclerosing agent during the percutaneous treatment of liver hydatid cysts is associated with a high success rate and low rates of recurrence and complications, and should be considered an important alternative to surgical procedures.

Complex Hydatid Cysts of the Liver: A Single Center's Evolving Approach to Surgical Treatment

In our study, we arbitrarily define complex hydatid cysts of the liver as either cysts with a diameter ≥ 10 cm, or as multiple and recurrent cysts. These types of cysts were then divided into two subgroups: giant cyst identified as a cyst with a diameter ≥ 10 cm, and complicated cyst as multiple, recurrent, abscessed cysts, or those resistant to conservative treatment. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze a series of 38 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for complex hydatid cysts over a period of 9 years at the same institute to determine the evolution of the surgical treatment and the risk factors for recurrence. Fourteen (36.8%) of these patients were women and 24 (63.2%) men (median age 48.1; range 16-71 years). The mean postoperative follow-up was 24 ± 10.8 months. All patients were treated prophylactically with albendazole (10 mg/Kg/day) for 15 days preoperatively and for 2 months postoperatively. Partial cystectomy was performed in two cases (5.26%) and radical pericystectomy in 20 cases (52.63%). In 15 cases the patients underwent liver resection (39.47%): left hepatectomy was performed in eight cases (21.05%), and right hepatectomy in seven cases (18.42%). In one case, both wedge resection and pericystectomy were performed. There were no deaths and only one patient (2.63%) showed signs of recurrence at follow-up. Radical surgery is the most effective treatment for complex hydatid cysts. In our experience, partial or total pericystectomy virtually eliminated, over time, the need for hepatic resection.