Over a 7-year period, 96 successive patients with intra-abdominal or retroperitoneal abscesses underwent 120 percutaneous punctures (PP), guided by computerized tomography (CT). The procedure was performed by several radiologists and surgeons according to the guidelines of our teaching hospital. Without PP, 73 patients (76%) would have required surgery. For 23 patients (24%), not eligible for surgery because of major anesthetic and/or surgical contraindications, PP was the only therapeutic possibility. 129 abscesses were recorded as follows: 75 postoperative abscesses (70 extraparenchymal locations, i.e. 93.3%) in 58 patients (60.4% of our collective) and 54 spontaneous abscesses (30 intraparenchymal, i.e. 55.5%) in 38 patients. Radical, definitive treatment was achieved by PP only in 74 patients (77%). In 13 patients (13.5%), PP allowed a postponed safer and easier surgical procedure, after evacuation and collapse of the collection entailing interruption of their septic shock state. PP thus proved effective in 90.5% of our cases, with a low morbidity rate (2%) and a mortality rate of 7.3% (represented by 7 patients, each at least 75 years old, all in septic shock). In view of these results, we have adopted this procedure as the first step when dealing with abdominal or retroperitoneal collections. If radical treatment is not achieved, a complementary, safer surgical procedure can be undertaken after percutaneous drainage, e.g. in case of digestive fistulae. A safe drainage route to the collection was the only limiting factor to the PP procedure. However, surgery remains the only curative treatment in case of failure or complication of PP.