Aim:

Most of deep cervical infections are polymicrobial and come from a dental origin, and an appropriate treatment is necessary. The present paper aims to describe the efficiency of minimally invasive incisions for the drainage of deep cervical infections.

Materials and methods:

A descriptive, retrospective and longitudinal study in patients with deep cervical infections, who required hospital admission. Patients were surgically treated with multiple minimally invasive incisions. Collected data included: epidemiology, etiology, teeth and cevicofacial spaces involved, size of drained abscesses, amount of material obtained, time of total patient admission, time of evolution before drainage anaesthetic technique, intubation method, surgical method and complications.

Results:

A total of 88 patients were included in this study, with an average age of 39 ± 14.05 years and a higher prevalence in women. Teeth infections were the etiological factor in 100 % of the sample. The most affected space was the submandibular with a 39.2 %. The evolution time before drainage varied between 1-8 days. The mean abscess size was 6.47 ± 2.34, 4.03 ± 1.64, 3.71 ± 1.59 cm. In terms of anaesthetic techniques, 88.6% patients were treated under local anesthesia and 11.3 % patients were treated under general anesthesia. The average of the amount of material obtained was 104.41 ± 9 cc. The average hospitalization time was 9.43 ± 3.89 days. There were no systemic or local complications.

Conclusions:

Minimally invasive incisions represent an effective and safe alternative, with low morbidity, for the drainage of deep cervical infections.

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