title: Recurrence patterns of cervical infections in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  (1) Elucidate the recurrence rate of pediatric cervical cellulitis and abscess (2) Evaluate the impact of pre-procedural imaging, length of stay, culture results, age and gender on readmission rate.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of all admissions to a tertiary pediatric hospital for cellulitis and abscess of the neck (ICD-9 682.1) from 2007 to 2013 including all readmissions within 91 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were a total of 178 admissions (171 patients) with the diagnosis of cellulitis and abscess of the neck between 2007 and 2013. The rate of surgical intervention was 74% (n=128). The overall readmission rate within 91 days was 3.5% (n=6). All patients requiring readmission had undergone a procedure during the initial admission and a second procedure during readmission. The readmission rate for patient who initially required a procedural intervention was 4.6%. There was no statistically significant effect of pre-procedural imaging, length of stay, culture results, age or gender on readmission rate. Patients with abscess >20mm in diameter had a significantly longer LOS than patient with smaller abscesses (4.265 days vs 3.667 days, p<0.001). Furthermore, in patients 3 years old or greater, the patients with a larger diameter (>20mm) and larger total size were more likely to need surgical drainage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This retrospective review of patients admitted with neck cellulitis and abscess at a tertiary care pediatric hospital shows an overall readmission rate of 3.5%. All readmissions required a surgical procedure. Older children with larger abscess are more likely to require surgical drainage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Electronic address: jaku0033@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Luke A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jakubowski
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. Electronic address: bmadar@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Bahbak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shariat-Madar
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Department of Otolaryngology/Medical College of Wisconsin, Children's Hospital Clinics Building, 9000 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 540, PO Box 1997, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA. Electronic address: mmccormick@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Department of Otolaryngology/Medical College of Wisconsin, Children's Hospital Clinics Building, 9000 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 540, PO Box 1997, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA. Electronic address: csulman@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Cecille G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Sulman
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Department of Otolaryngology/Medical College of Wisconsin, Children's Hospital Clinics Building, 9000 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 540, PO Box 1997, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA. Electronic address: rchun@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Chun
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D002481:Cellulitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D010359:Patient Readmission; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: MRSA; Pediatric neck abscess