IMAGES IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Retropharyngeal abscess secondary to a foreign body
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to Dr H Rumbold, Department of Emergency Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK; helenrumbold@yahoo.co.uk
Accepted 3 September 2008
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
A 66-year-old woman presented one week after a piece of seafood shell caught in her throat. She was febrile (38°C) with a tender swollen neck and pus visible in her oropharynx. She was not in respiratory distress. She had a lateral neck x ray in the emergency department, (fig 1) which showed retropharyngeal soft tissue swelling and the rare, but pathognomic, feature of a gas-filled cavity indicating the presence of a retropharyngeal abscess. This was later confirmed by computed tomography scan. She was transferred immediately to theatre and underwent a gaseous induction. The ENT team were able to drain the abscess via the intraoral route.
Figure 1 Lateral neck x ray showing retropharyngeal soft tissue swelling and a gas-containing cavity.
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Retropharyngeal abscesses most commonly occur after a respiratory tract infection, but can be due to a foreign body. They have a high mortality rate due to the complications associated with
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