title: Minimally invasive transoral catheter-assisted drainage of a danger-space infection.
abstract: We report the case of a 3-year-old boy who was brought to the emergency department for evaluation of a prolonged upper respiratory infection and diminished neck movement. Computed tomography identified a unilocular abscess extending from the level of C2 inferiorly to the diaphragm at the level of the T9 vertebral body. We successfully treated this transcervical, transthoracic infection surgically via a transoral approach to the retropharyngeal abscess combined with catheter drainage and irrigation of the abscess cavity at a depth of 13 cm. At 25 months of follow-up, the patient exhibited no evidence of recurrent disease or postsurgical complications. In this article, we describe our minimally invasive technique for managing unusual deep-space neck infections in children.
authors.affiliation: Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Miami Fla. School of Medicine, 1504 Bay Rd., #1014, Miami Beach, FL 33139, USA. robertadelson@mac.com
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Adelson
authors.forename: Alan D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D002404:Catheterization; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017703:Retropharyngeal Abscess / Q000628:therapy*; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes