Clinical features and surgical outcomes of branchial cleft cyst at a tertiary care hospital, Saudi Arabia, a retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Branchial cleft anomalies are the second-most common congenital malformation in the head-and-neck region. They arise from persistent ruminants of pharyngeal clefts and pouches and are classified into four distinct types; the most prevalent one is type 2, which involves the sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCM). The definitive treatment for the four types is complete surgical excision of the anomaly. Objective: The present study describes the clinical features and surgical outcomes for both unilateral and bilateral branchial cleft cysts at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. Design and Setting: This retrospective study involved collecting data from patients' records of King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Saudi Arabia, who had surgical excision for branchial cleft cyst in the duration between January 2010 and September 2020. The collected data included patients' demographics, characters of the branchial anomaly, complications, and characters of the procedure. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS v. 20. for both descriptive and comparative analysis. Results: A total of 18 cases were eligible for inclusion. Of the whole cohort, 55.6% were females. All cases were type 2, with the majority being in the anterior border of sternoclenomastoid (83.3%) and unilateral (77.8%). Discharge was reported as the most common complication, occurring among half of the patients. The diagnostic investigation was only performed in situations of recurrence (22.2%). The prevalence of the bilateral cyst is 22.2%. There was no statistically significant association between the associated genetic disease and the unilateral or bilateral cysts (P = 0.054). Conclusion: Type 2 unilateral cysts are the most prevalent for the examined population, specifically on the anterior border of SCM. A low recurrence rate and low incidence of complications propose an effective management strategy.