[The diagnosis and treatment strategy for patients with severemultispace abscesses in neck]

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with severe deep neck abscess,etiology,imaging,appropriate treatment selection in those patients,to improve the judgement and understanding of the disease.Method:Thirty cases of severe deep neck abscess treated from March 2010 to June 2015 were retrospectively reviewed,including the clinical characteristics,diagnosis and treatment strategy.Result:The sore throat,odynophagia,dysphagia,fever and difficulty breathing were the most common symptoms of severe deep neck abscess.The causes of deep neck abscess were tooth diseases(5 cases),foreign bodies in pharynx or esophagus(4 cases),the second branchial crack cyst with multiply abscess,uncertain cause(20 cases).Six of the above cases complicated with mediastinal abscess.Radiologic evaluation was performed on all of the patients to identify the most probable location of the abscess:parapharyngeal space,retropharyngeal space,masticator space,carotid space,etc.Twenty-five cases were treated by drainage via incising lateral neck and 4 patientsreceived abscess puncture aspiration.Life-threatening complications were developed in all cases,29 cases were cured but one case dead.Conclusion:The treatment of severe deep neck multispace abscesses should be mindful.Once deep neck abscesses are diagnosed,we should timely undertake surgical drainage via incising lateral neck.Emergency tracheostomy should be perform in some case like severe dyspnea,airway obstrucion.Antibiotics should be appropriately applied,and basic diseases and complications should be carefully controlled.