Mettias Bassem, Robertson Stuart, Buchanan Malcolm A
ENT, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK.
BMJ Case Rep. 2018 Mar 5;2018:bcr-2017-222610. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2017-222610.
Chemotherapy increases susceptibility to infection due to the effect on cell-mediated and humoral immunity. Retropharyngeal abscess is a serious head and neck infection that rapidly progresses from toxicity, whether the patient is neutropenic or not. The risk should be carefully assessed with any chemotherapeutic agent, especially docetaxel.