Bilateral spontaneous abscess of the nasal septum: case report

Abstract

Nasal septal abscess is a rare and serious infection, due to the complications it can cause. It is defined as a collection of pus between the septal cartilage and its perichondrium. Usually, the abscess is the result of superinfection of a poorly treated post-traumatic hematoma. Rarely, the abscess has spread to the septum either from a skin lesion, sinusitis or dental focus neighborhood but exceptionally the abscess can be spontaneous. We report a case of a 29-year-old girl who presented to the emergency room for rhinological pain associated with bilateral nasal obstruction. The swollen nasal septum completely obstructed the nasal passages. The CT scan showed an abscess of the nasal septum without sinusitis or other infectious ENT focus (spontaneous abscess). Drainage of the abscess associated with a triple antibiotic therapy allowed a favorable outcome. The objective of this case report is to show that nasal septum abscess is another cause of bilateral nasal obstruction. It is not always secondary to a local infection; it can be spontaneous as the case of our patient.