Ludwig′s angina: Analysis of 28 cases seen and managed in Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence, seasonal presentation, and management of Ludwig's angina in Northwest Nigerian Tertiary Health Facility. Patients and Methods: Cases of Ludwig's angina that presented and managed by the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, between 2013 and 2015 were retrieved. Data were stored and analyzed using IBM SPSS (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) Statistics for windows version 20. Results: Over the review period, 36 patients presented with clinical features of Ludwig's angina. Only 28 cases were analyzed and 8 cases had incomplete data and were excluded from the analysis. Of the 28 patients, 23 (82.1%) were males while 5 (17.9%) were females with a male: female ratio of 4.6:1. The mean age of the sample was 32.3 ΁ 11.6, range 18-60 years. A majority of the patients were in low socioeconomic group with 11 (39.3%) patients being peasant farmers. Odontogenic infection was responsible for the disease in 27 (96.4%) cases while only 1 (3.6%) case was idiopathic. Of those with odontogenic etiology, 18 (64.3%) were due to sequelae of caries. Microbiology, culture, and sensitivity in few cases revealed Streptococcus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Most of the cases recorded no bacterial growth after 24 h incubation period. Twenty-five patients (89.3%) survived the disease while 3 (10.7%) died. Conclusions: Management of Ludwig's angina in a resource- and personnel-scarce setting can be very challenging. Early surgical decompression, aggressive empirical antibiotics, and nutritional support have contributed to the low mortality in our series.