Permucosal Needle Drainage of Peritonsillar Abscesses: A Five-Year Experience

Abstract

• Forty-one patients with proved peritonsillar abscesses were treated during a five-year period with needle aspiration as the sole initial surgical treatment. Ninety percent (37/41) of the patients' abscesses resolved without further invasive therapy. All but two of the patients were treated as outpatients. Fifty percent (21/41) of the patients were treated by nonotolaryngologists. These data indicate that outpatient needle aspiration is the simplest, most cost-effective therapy for peritonsillar abscess. (Arch Otolaryngol 1984;110:104-105)