In children the incidence of
peritonsillar abscess is approximately 14 to 30 cases per 100,000 [7].
Contrast-enhanced CT of the neck and chest revealed a large right-sided
peritonsillar abscess (Figure 1), thrombus along the anterior aspect of the right internal jugular vein (Figure 2), and multiple septic pulmonary emboli (Figure 3).
Instead, patient records of 162 general practices were reviewed to determine whether the patients had received antibiotics at the time of diagnosis, and whether they had developed a complication related to a serious illness: pneumonia after URI or bronchitis,
peritonsillar abscess after sore throat, or mastoiditis after otitis media (within a month following the episode).
About 4 months after the initial presentation, he was noted to have
peritonsillar abscess which required incision and drainage.
Patients and Methods: Fifty patients of either gender presenting with
peritonsillar abscess for the first time were randomly divided allocated into two groups A and B.
A 23-year-old female student was being treated for a right-sided
peritonsillar abscess. She had undergone incision and drainage at a different hospital 4 weeks earlier.
I've seen this before with infectious mononucleosis, but I have also seen a similar presentation in a 3-year-old with a
peritonsillar abscess. Watch out for this one because it needs another form of treatment and surgery in most cases.
Occasionally the strep tonsillitis can even lead to complications such as boils in the throat (
peritonsillar abscess), boils and inflammation in the neck lymph glands, or spread through the bloodstream (bacteremia, a life threatening disease).
With detailed history, clinical ENT examination, radiological investigation, therapeutic needling and transcervical drainage, the following diagnosis were made such as parotid abscess,
peritonsillar abscess, Ludwig's angina, parapharyngeal, retropharyngeal, neck space abscess, necrotizing cervical fasciitis and mediastinitis.
If, for example, the neurotologist is on call for the emergency room and a patient with a
peritonsillar abscess comes in, the backup physician will cover it.
When a symptomatic family member calls, I ask the patient to come into the office to (1) rule out a viral cause for which antibiotics would be useless and increase resistance, (2) ensure that there are no complications such as a
peritonsillar abscess, and (3) test when appropriate.