Combination Dornase and Alteplase for Intra-abdominal Drain, Abscess, and Hematoma Clearance: A Retrospective Case Series.

BACKGROUND

Since the advent of the MIST2 trial, the combined instillation of dornase and alteplase has become an effective nonsurgical treatment option for empyema and pleural fluid collection. Percutaneous drainage of abdominal abscesses and fluid collections, rather than open surgical treatment, also has become commonplace. The are several case reports and studies on the use of fibrinolytics to drain abdominal fluid collections but no literature reporting use of both alteplase and dornase for abdominal administration.

OBJECTIVE

We present a case series from an academic medical center where dornase therapy was added to fibrinolytic therapy to treat intra-abdominal fluid collections, hematoma, and abdominal drainage catheters with low output.

METHODS

This is an institutional review board-approved retrospective case series of 13 patients who underwent combination use of alteplase and dornase via intra-abdominal route. The primary objective was to assess for increased drain output, reduction in size of the fluid collection, and adverse events.

RESULTS

Many patients had improved drain output after dornase-alteplase therapy. One patient had significant bleeding complications.

CONCLUSIONS

All patients were discharged alive from the hospital. Clinical success was difficult to define due to variable goals of therapy. Further data are needed to establish the safety and efficacy of this practice, especially compared with intra-abdominal alteplase alone. Patients in our series generally received larger doses of alteplase than in prior studies due to use of dosing modeled on the MIST2 trial. Based on the limited experience of our study, we recommend holding therapeutic anticoagulation during the administration of intra-abdominal dornase-alteplase.