Clinical features
The clinical picture of a subphrenic abscess is one of a patient who develops features of toxicity 2 to 21 days after making an initial recovery from an episode of peritonitis or an operation; these features are:
- swinging fever
- malaise, nausea, weight loss
- there may also be upper abdominal pain that radiates to shoulder tip
- there may also be breathlessness, due to lower lobe lung collapse or development of a pleural effusion
On examination:
- swinging pyrexia
- sometimes abdominal tenderness in the subcostal region and/or signs of a pleural effusion.
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