Clinical Usefulness of Neck Ultrasonography in Peritonsillar Abscess

Background and Objectives：Clinical differentiation of peritonsillar abscess (PTA) from peritonsillar cellulitis is sometimes difficult and physicians often rely on blind needle aspiration to locate abscess formation. According to previous studies, intraoral ultrasound is a useful, simple, and noninvasive technique that candifferentiate PTA from cellulitis in clinically equivocal cases, although it may cause some discomfort. The objective of this study was to establish a neck ultrasonographic technique that candifferentiate PTA from cellulitis in borderline cases and thereby to avoid unnecessary needle aspiraton. Subjects and Method： The study population included 44 patients (32 males and 12 females；age range 13 to 59 years) with clinically suspected PTA. These patientsunderwent neck ultrasonography examination before needle aspiration of abscess. Results：On the basis of neck ultrasonography, 38 patients were considered as PTA and 6 as cellulitis. Neck ultrasonography was able to detect peritonsillar abscess in 94.7 per cent of the cases (sensitivity). The specificity of the test was 83.3 per cent, and accuracy was 79.1 per cent. Conclusion：Neck ultrasonography is a useful, simple, well-tolerated non-invasive technique that can be used to differentiate PTA from cellulitis in clinically equivocal cases. (Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2008;51:1134-9)