Abstract
Peritonsillar abscess in children is a very rare disease. Five patients have been treated at our hospital within the last ten years. The youngest case was a 1-year-old boy. Their chief complaints were sore throats, high fever and vomiting. All patients were hospitalized and treated with intravenous administration of antibiotics. Though one patient received paracentesis and aspiration, the other patients received incision and drainage under local anesthesia. Group A streptococcus was isolated from purulent discharge from two patient, Haemophilus influenzae was isolated from another patient, and no pathogenic bacteria was isolated from the others. They needed about seven days of hospitalization on the average. One patient had a subsequent tonsillectomy. The other patients had experienced no recurrent episodes of peritonsillar abscess.
