Curettage of nontuberculous mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis

Cervicofacial nontuberculous mycobacterial infections of the head and neck are difficult to treat surgically because of their common location near the branches of the facial nerve. Curettage of these lesions through a small skin incision makes treatment simple without injury to the facial nerve fibers and leaves the patient with an excellent cosmetic result. Most discussions on the topic, however, favor complete surgical excision even though curettage has been reported as a safe and excellent means of treatment. For the past 2 years, the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pa, has used curettage in seven patients as the primary treatment modality for these facial and cervical infections. A review of these cases is presented.