A Novel Technique for Intraoral Ultrasound-Guided Aspiration of Peritonsillar Abscess

Abstract

Peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is a common complication to acute tonsillitis. The treatment is drainage of the abscess, but many needle aspirations are unsuccessful due to a low diagnostic accuracy based on oral examination only. In this article, we describe how intraoral ultrasound can be added to improve the diagnostic work-up of PTA and present a novel technique for ultrasound-guided aspiration of PTA, using a small pencil-shaped transducer. We present our first clinical experiences with this technique and describe how it could be integrated in a clinical setting to guide safe and successful needle aspirations of PTA.

Keywords

• point-of-care ultrasound
• intraoral ultrasound
• peritonsillar abscess
• ultrasound-guided aspiration