Introduction. Timely diagnosis and treatment of kidney purulent abscesses remains an urgent problem of urology. They often develop in patients with severe concomitant diseases that complicate open surgery on the kidney. Minimally invasive percutaneous drainage may be their method of choice. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of their percutaneous or open lumbotomic drainage.

Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the treatment results of 34 patients with purulent-inflammatory kidney diseases who were treated at the Center for Urology of the Mariinsky Hospital for the period from 2017 to 2019 was performed. All patients were divided into two groups: I group (18 patients) – percutaneous drainage (PD) of purulent kidney abscesses was performed; II gr. (16 patients) – an open operation (OO) was performed.

Results. The operation time was significantly shorter in group I (26.1 ± 1.7 and 84.2 ± 8.3 min, p <0.05). The drainage periods were significantly less also in group I (7.4 ± 1.6 / 24.2 ± 6.0 days, p <0.05). In the postoperative period, normalization of body temperature, leukocytosis and creatinine level occurred significantly faster in group I. The hospitalization period was: in group I – 12.0 ± 3.6, in group II – 19.8 ± 3.3 days (p <0.05). The data obtained showed that in all cases, PD of purulent kidney abscesses can be used. At the same time, their sizes are not a criteria for choosing a OO, since the estimated parameters in the PD group do not deteriorate with an increase in the size of abscesses.

Conclusion. Percutaneous drainage of purulent kidney abscesses is the method of choice for the treatment of this category of patients. Opening surgical interventions can be recommended for multiple purulent abscesses of the kidneys, and a large size is not an indication for the choice of open operations.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.