CT-guided puncture closed drainage for deep neck abscesses

Abstract

Objective To investigate the validity and safety of CT-guided puncture closed drainage in the treatment of unilocular deep neck abscesses. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 25 cases of patients with unilateral deep neck abscesses who were admitted from January 2005 to June 2016.All patients failed in the anti-infective therapy, and they would receive the CT-guided puncture closed drainage.Catheter placement was carried out using Trocar technique in all cases.Open surgical drainage was performed when percutaneous catheter drainage procedures failed. Results A total of 25 cases of patients were enrolled, including 5 cases had no bacteria in the pus, 20 cases had bacteria growth in the pus, and the positive rate was 80%.All patients had puncture success in one time.Two patients complicated with multiple interstitial infection, one patients complicated with tissue gas, who needed irrigation and debridement.One patient died after hospital discharge.Followed up 24 patients for three months, no patient recurred. Conclusion CT-guided puncture closed drainage is a safe, efficient, low-cost treatment, which can be considered as an alternative to open surgery incision drainage treatment of unilocular deep neck abscesses when drug treatment is invalid.This technique is easy to be tolerated by elderly patients and patients with systemic diseases.The length of stay is short and complications can be reduced. Key words: Abscess; The neck abscess; CT image; Bacterial infection; Puncture drainage