2015 Volume 36 Issue 1 Pages 21-26
A deep neck abscess in children rarely progresses to the mediastinum or leads to respiratory obstruction unlike adult cases. However, in immunodeficient children, this type of abscess sometimes recurs and advances a difficult-to-manage stage. We describe the case of a 13-year old boy who first presented with a left submandibular abscess and one year later with a posterior pharyngeal abscess. During both episodes, his condition required emergency drainage under general anesthesia. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from both abscesses. The patient had had mosquito bite hypersensitivity and elevated IgE levels (20,000–60,000 IU/mL) without atopic dermatitis since infancy. His signs and symptoms were not consistent with the diagnostic criteria for hyper IgE syndrome. He may have immunodeficiency of an unknown nature, and careful clinical monitoring for recurrent deep neck abscesses is required.
