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Retropharyngeal abscess

Última revisión: 14 Sep 2025
Última actualización: 18 Oct 2022

Resumen

Definición

História e exame físico

Principais fatores diagnósticos

  • spiking fever
  • neck pain or torticollis
  • odynophagia
  • dysphagia
  • neck swelling/mass/lymphadenopathy
  • oropharyngeal swelling
  • drooling
Detalhes completos

Outros fatores diagnósticos

  • decreased oral intake
  • anorexia
  • malaise
  • irritability
  • trismus
  • dysphonia
  • dyspnea
  • fatigue
  • sleep apnea
  • stridor
  • tonsillar swelling
  • increased respiration rate
  • decreased oxygen saturations
  • cyanosis
  • tachypnea
  • tracheal tug
  • intercostal recession
Detalhes completos

Fatores de risco

  • foreign body ingestion
  • trauma to posterior pharyngeal wall
  • dental caries/infection
  • diabetes mellitus
  • male sex
  • adenotonsillectomy
Detalhes completos

Investigações diagnósticas

Primeiras investigações a serem solicitadas

  • CBC
  • erythrocyte sedimentation rate
  • CT neck with contrast
  • x-ray of neck
  • ultrasonography of neck
  • examination under anesthetic (EUA)
  • culture
Detalhes completos

Algoritmo de tratamento

AGUDA

airway compromise

no airway compromise

Colaboradores

Autores

Carl Philpott, MB ChB, FRCS (ORL-HNS) DLO, MD, PGCME
Carl Philpott

Consultant in ENT & Rhinology

James Paget University Hospital

Great Yarmouth

UK

Declarações

CP is an advisory board member for GSK, Sanofi, and Stryker. He has received grants from NIHR and is a trustee of Fifth Sense. CP is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Kala Kumaresan, MBBS, MRCS (ENT)

Clinical Research Fellow

Department of ENT

James Paget University Hospital

Norwich

UK

Declarações

KK declares that she has no competing interests.

Agradecimentos

Professor Carl Philpott and Dr Kala Kumaresan would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Kristian Hutson, Dr Lorna Langstaff, Dr Asad Qayyum, Dr Kevin Kulendra, Dr Cameron Davies-Husband, and Dr Marcos Martinez Del Pero, previous contributors to this topic.

Declarações

KH, LL, AQ, KK, CDH, and MMDP declare that they have no competing interests.

Revisores

Remco de Bree, MD, PhD

Otolaryngologist

Head and Neck Surgeon

VU University Medical Center

Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Disclosures

RdB declares that he has no competing interests.

Michael Johns, MD

Director

Assistant Professor

Emory University

Atlanta

GA

Disclosures

MJ declares that he has no competing interests.

Lynn Solomon, MD

Assistant Professor

Tufts University

Boston

MA

Disclosures

LS declares that she has no competing interests.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

Our in-house evidence and editorial teams collaborate with international expert contributors and peer reviewers to ensure that we provide access to the most clinically relevant information possible.

Key articles

Philpott CM, Selvadurai D, Banerjee AR. Paediatric retropharyngeal abscess. J Laryngol Otol. 2004 Dec;118(12):919-26. Abstract

Bochner RE, Gangar M, Belamarich PF. A clinical approach to tonsillitis, tonsillar hypertrophy, and peritonsillar and retropharyngeal abscesses. Pediatr Rev. 2017 Feb;38(2):81-92. Abstract

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available to users with access to all of BMJ Best Practice.
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  • Guidelines

    • A clinical approach to tonsillitis, tonsillar hypertrophy, and peritonsillar and retropharyngeal abscesses
    More Guidelines
  • Patient information

    Sore throat

    More Patient information
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