title: Occurrence of silk stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elucidate the predisposing factors and clinical characteristics related to the occurrence of stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 232 patients who underwent excision and/or reconstruction and/or neck dissection for oral SCC using silk sutures for high ligation of the blood vessels. Detection rates and characteristics of patients with stitch abscess were retrospectively evaluated by comparing patients with and without stitch abscesses after surgery diagnosed by ultrasonography and findings of various modalities in 232 patients. Several echogenic dots with subtle acoustic shadows in a hypoechoic mass were identified as the characteristic findings of stitch abscess on US. The patient groups with and without stitch abscess were compared with respect to various factors to identify those that predispose to the occurrence of stitch abscess. The factors analyzed included patients' sex and age, chemotherapy treatment, radiotherapy treatment, the presence of a history of allergy, and blood test results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant correlation was found between the occurrence of stitch abscess and age, liver function abnormalities on blood tests, and the presence of a history of allergy. Multiple stitch abscesses clearly tended to occur more often than single ones in patients with stitch abscess.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The occurrence of stitch abscesses was related to age, liver dysfunction, and/or the presence of allergies. When diagnosing stitch abscess, the occurrence of multiple stitch abscesses is important.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry and Oral-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Oita University, Oita, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Daigo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yoshiga
authors.forename: Ayataka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Kou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Ikuya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Tatsurou
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kito
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seta
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morimoto
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D047011:Silk / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013537:Sutures / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D047011:Silk