In Japan, patients with peritonsillar abscess are usually hospitalized. In contrast, ambulatory management has been performed in other countries. Patients seek safe, inexpensive, convenient, and shorter periods of treatment. We compared the therapeutic effects between ambulatory and hospitalized care in patients with peritonsillar abscess of a moderate degree.
The subjects, recruited between January 2009 and October 2012, comprised 125 patients with peritonsillar abscess (95 men and 30 women) consisting of 70 hospitalized patients and 55 ambulatory care patients with ages varying from 17 to 89 years old. Of the 125 patients, 74 were affected on the right side and 51 on the left. The ratio of smokers was 63% in men and 20% in women. All patients were treated with antibiotics and aspiration for drainage of abscess. Both SBT/ABPC and CLDM were most frequently administered. The average number of aspiration treatments was 3.04. Peritonsillar abscess recurred in 19 cases (19%), while 14 cases (14%) had recurrence within one month after discharge.
The therapeutic effect was compared regarding the recovery period, inflammatory parameters, and the number of aspiration treatments. The clinical outcome showed no statistically significant difference between the ambulatory and hospitalized care groups. We concluded that ambulatory therapy is as effective as and less expensive than hospitalized care in moderate and mild cases of peritonsillar abscesses.
