[Diagnosis and treatment of mediastinal abscess]

The experience of diagnosis and treatment in 15 patients with mediastinal abscess was introduced in this paper. Most mediastinal abscesses are the results of secondary infection. One of the main causes is esophageal perforation. The main clinica manifestations are fever, chest pain, dysphagia and dyspnea. A toxic shock develops in serious cases. Chest X-ray examination is an important diagnostic method showing widened mediastinum, air-fluid level in mediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. The writer holds that once diagnosis is made, an adequate drainage of abscess should be made by individualized route of entry. In order to maintain enough nutrition, gastrostomy should be performed followed by tube feeding. In this series, the above mentioned treatment regime gave quite satisfactory result. Twelve of the 15 cases got cured or improved. Three cases failed to respond and died.