Acute suppurative thyroiditis with thyroid abscess: a case report and review of the literature

Thyroid gland is well known to resist infections by rich blood supply and lymphatic drainage, high glandular content of iodine which can be bactericidal and separation of the gland from other structures of neck. Primary thyroid abscess resulting from acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST) is an unusual type of head and neck infection and it is a rare condition in children so that progression to abscess formation is even more uncommon.

In this article we report a 9 years old girl who presented with thyroid abscess. She had fever, painful swelling in the neck, sore throat, tachycardia ,restriction of neck movements and dysphagia for 6-7 days with a history of mild fever from 10 days, prior to that. The responsible organism was found to be staphylococcus aureus. Treatment began with Intravenous antibiotics and continued with incision and drainage. Thus the process led to an uncomplicated recovery.

Although thyroid abscess is rare, but must be considered. Most common organism that cause is staphylococcus aureus. With early diagnosis and proper treatment, it can be prevented from complications. Since this disease can be associated with anatomic abnormalities such as pyriform sinus fistula, must be roule outed.