Liver abscess: diagnostic and management issues found in the low resource setting

Abstract

Introduction: Liver abscesses are mainly caused by parasitic or bacterial infection and are an important cause of hospitalization in low-middle income countries (LMIC). The pathophysiology of abscesses is different depending on the etiology and requires different strategies for diagnosis and management. This paper discusses pathophysiology and epidemiology, the current diagnostic approach and its limitations and management of liver abscess in low resource settings.

Sources of data: We searched PubMed for relevant reviews by typing the following keywords: 'amoebic liver abscess' and 'pyogenic liver abscess'.

Areas of agreement: Amoebic liver abscess can be treated medically while pyogenic liver abscess usually needs to be percutaneously drained and treated with effective antibiotics.

Areas of controversy: In an LMIC setting, where misuse of antibiotics is a recognized issue, liver abscesses are a therapeutic conundrum, leaving little choices for treatment for physicians in low capacity settings.

Growing points: As antimicrobial resistance awareness and antibiotic stewardship programs are put into place, liver abscess management will likely improve in LMICs provided that systematic adapted guidelines are established and practiced.

Areas timely for developing research: The lack of a quick and reliable diagnostic strategy in the majority of LMIC makes selection of appropriate treatment challenging.

Keywords: amoebic; liver abscess; low-middle income countries; pyogenic; resource limited settings.