Abstract
With retrospective chart review, 44 patients diagnosed as Ludwig's angina at the National Taiwan University Hospital were collected from 1998 to 2003. The age ranged from 4 to 85 years (mean, 48.1 years), there were 29 male and 15 female. Ludwig's angina usually occurred in cold weather (November to April) and the most frequent etiology was dental infection (81.8%) followed by upper airway infection (11.3%). There were 5 cases that received tracheostomy or intubation, but no case expired in this study. The patients who had associated deep neck infection usually received drainage operation, and those who received incision drainage or tracheostomy usually had a longer hospital stay (P＜0.05). Though older patients (＞50 years old) and those with systemic diseases had longer hospital stays but the difference was not significant. The most important way to manage Ludwig's angina is to keep the airway patent, and the abscess must be drained out to prevent the fatal evidence. The antibiotics of penecillin, clindamycin or chloramphenicol should be used first before the available results of pus culture.
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