title: Retropharyngeal abscess: recent trends.
abstract: Retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) is relatively rare today. A study of 17 cases of RPA treated at our hospital in the past 10 years showed a shift in the disease from children below 6 years of age (41%) to older children and adults (58%). Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) was found to be the commonest (52%) aetiological predisposing factor in all age groups. Other aetiological factors were septicaemia (11%) in children below the age of 6 years and trauma due to foreign body (35%) in the older children and adult age groups. Klebsiella, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus were the commonest species of microorganisms grown from pus. The changing clinical trends, microbiology, choice of antibiotics, usefulness of radiology, and complications of this potentially fatal illness are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan. sharma@kb.usm.my
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Kurl
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamzah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011859:Radiography; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications; D017703:Retropharyngeal Abscess / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents