Ultrasound-guided needle aspiration versus surgical drainage of parotid abscesses

Introduction Standard treatment of parotideal abscesses consists of surgical drainage. This often has to be carried out in general anesthesia and carries the risk of iatrogenic injury of the facial nerve. Ultrasound-guided needle aspiration is an alternative therapy. Up until know a lack of systematic data concerning this subject exists. The study at hand aims to fill this gap.

Materials and Methods All patients who had been treated surgically (n= 42) or via ultrasound-guided needle aspiration (n = 18) at our clinic were included into this monocentric retrospective analysis.

Results There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0,18) regarding the mean abscess volume in both groups (11 vs 19ml). Therapy of the abscesses on average required two (1- 5) ultrasound-guided needle aspirations or one (1-2) surgical intervention. There was a trend to a shorter inpatient treatment period (6 versus 7 days) after ultrasound-guided needle aspiration. This trend did not reach statistical significance (p = 0,06). Facial nerve alterations did not occur in any of the patients. Postoperative bleeding did never occur after needle aspirations but in 2 % of the patients after surgical abscess revision.

Discussion Ultrasound-guided needle aspiration is safe and effective in the treatment of parotid abscesses.

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Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020