The therapy of peritonsillar abscesses (PTA) - an extended clinical retrospective evaluation of 584 patients

Introduction Based on the retrospective analysis of our contribution to the 88^th Annual Meeting "The treatment of peritonsillar abscesses (PTA) before and after the new guideline (2015)", the study was extended. Our aim was to increase the number of patients and to consider further clinical characteristics.

Material and Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of all the patients with PTA who were treated surgically in the Department of Otolaryngology, Ulm University Hospital from 2013 to 2016. The descriptive statistical analysis of 2017 has been extended by significance tests.

Results 9.8 % of patients had a risk of increased bleeding. 40.6 % were active smokers at the time of PTA. In 22.8 % of the patients, the abscess was treated by incision (ID) with local anesthesia. In 6 patients, an abscess tonsillectomy (ATE) had to be performed as a result of insufficient symptom relief after ID. 40.4 % of patients had ATE with TE of the second tonsil, in 41.6 % only an ATE was performed. After ID, no patient had postoperative bleeding. 4 patients had to be treated surgically due to postoperative bleeding after ATE or TE. The duration of inpatient stay was significantly shorter after ID than after ATE.

Conclusion The ID for the treatment of a PTA is characterized by a lower postoperative bleeding tendency, shorter inpatient stay and the possibility of local anesthesia. It must be kept in mind that a risk of PTA recurrence exists after ID. ATE without TE of the second tonsil significantly shortens the duration of surgery.

Poster-PDF A-1364.PDF

Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020