Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Department of Ultrasound, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
J Craniofac Surg. 2021;32(2):691-693. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000007345.
Retropharyngeal abscesses are rarely reported in adults and occur mostly in patients with immunocompromised or as a foreign body complication. Admittedly, the treatment of retropharyngeal abscesses frequently involves surgical drainage to achieve the best results. However, when retropharyngeal abscesses occurred in a highly suspected patient with COVID-19, the managements and treatments should be caution to prevent the spread of the virus.
On February 13, a 40-year-old male with retropharyngeal abscesses turned to our department complaining dyspnea and dysphagia. In addition, his chest CT scan shows a suspected COVID-19 infection, thus making out Multiple Disciplinary Team determine to perform percutaneous drainage and catheterization through left anterior cervical approach under the guidance of B-ultrasound. Finally, the patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital on February 27 after 14 days of isolation. There was no recurrence after half a year follow-up.
By presenting this case, we aim at raising awareness of different surgical drainage methods and summarizing our experience in the management of retropharyngeal abscesses during the outbreak of COVID-19.
咽后脓肿在成人中很少见，大多发生在免疫功能低下的患者或作为异物并发症。诚然，咽后脓肿的治疗常需要手术引流以达到最佳效果。然而，当高度疑似 COVID-19 的患者发生咽后脓肿时，管理和治疗应谨慎，以防止病毒传播。
2 月 13 日，一名 40 岁男性因咽后脓肿转入我科，诉呼吸困难和吞咽困难。此外，其胸部 CT 扫描显示疑似 COVID-19 感染，因此多学科团队决定在超声引导下经左颈前入路行经皮引流和置管。最终，患者于 2 月 27 日隔离 14 天后康复出院。半年随访无复发。
通过报告这个病例，我们旨在提高对不同手术引流方法的认识，并总结我们在 COVID-19 爆发期间管理咽后脓肿的经验。
