Abstract

Background and Objectives Peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is an accumulation of pus between the palatine tonsil and pharyngeal constrictor muscle. It is a common cause of emergency on-call consultations among ENT doctors and occurs due to the possibility of sepsis, airway obstruction, and progression to deep neck infection. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of needle aspiration (NA) to incision & drainage (I&D) for the treatment of PTA.Subjects and Method From September 2018 to March 2020, 58 patients with PTA were admitted to our ENT Department. After a comprehensive diagnostic procedure, 38 patients were enrolled in the study and they underwent either I&D (20 patients) or NA (18 patients) treatment. Patients were discharged when edema decreased on the endoscopic findings and their symptoms improved, with a visual analogue scale (VAS) score <3 points. For each patient, we evaluated the abscess volume, age, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and drinking history, abscess size, and duration of hospitalization. White blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were estimated on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days of hospitalization.Results The mean age of participants was 42.8±15.5 years and 40.3±14.7 years in the I&D and NA groups, respectively. Except for ESR, the mean hospitalization duration, initial volume of abscess size, VAS pain score, WBC count and the CRP level were not different between the groups.Conclusion Our study revealed no significant differences in hospital stay duration, VAS score, WBC counts or in the CRP level among patients admitted for PTA, whether they underwent I&D or NA.

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