Effect of Surgical Versus Pharmacological Decompression of Ludwig’s Angina on Airway Compromise among Nigerian Patients

Abstract

Background: Even though the decompression of the cellulitis phase of Ludwig’s angina (LA) by surgical or pharmacological approach is well documented, it is unclear which approach is more effective. Objective: We aim to compare the outcome of treatment between surgical versus pharmacological decompression in patients with LA. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed. Data were collected from the case notes of patients that met the inclusion criteria from 2004 to 2018 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.The data were age, gender, type of decompression approach, length of hospital stay (LOS) and airway compromise. Result: A total of 62 patients comprising 37(59.7%) surgical decompression group and 25(40.3%) pharmacological decompression group were studied. Thirty-six (58.1%) males and 26 (41.9%) females were studied. Their mean age and standard deviation were 40.6 years and 11.9 years respectively. The mean length of hospital stays between the pharmacological and surgical decompression groups were 8.05 days and 13.8 days respectively. The incidence of airway compromise in the surgical decompression group was 19.9% lower than that of the pharmacological decompression group (P=0.47), which was not significant. The type of decompression approach also failed to influence the incidence of airway compromise (P = 0.41). Conclusion: The use of surgical versus pharmacological decompression does not significantly alter the incidence of airway compromise in the management of LA. The Patients that had surgical decompression had a shorter stay in the hospital as compared to those who had pharmacological decompression. This was not statistically significant.