To determine the efficacy and safety of bedside percutaneous drainage procedures with ultrasound guidance in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Sixty five percutaneous drainage procedures performed at the bedside, in 39 ICU patients, were evaluated. All of the procedures were performed with ultrasound guidance alone. The procedures consisted of percutaneous drainage of abdominal (n=35) and pleural (n=27) fluids, percutaneous cholecystostomy (n=2) and percutaneous nephrostomy (n=1). The clinical responses were classified as 'complete response', 'partial response', 'failure' or 'undetermined'. The medical records were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate the clinical response.

Technical success was achieved in 64 of the 65 procedures (98.5%). The complication rate was 13.8% (9 cases). There was no immediate procedure-related death or worsening of the clinical condition of the patients. The clinical responses after drainage were 'complete response' in 39 cases (60.9%), 'partial response' in 14 (21.9%), 'failure' in 3 (4.7%), and 'undetermined' in 8 (12.5%).

Bedside drainage procedures with ultrasound guidance are effective and safe to perform when patients are too critically ill to be moved from the ICU to the angiography room.