Ultrasound-guided transoral drainage of a paediatric parapharyngeal abscess

To report and discuss the surgical use of ultrasonography for draining a parapharyngeal space infection in a child.

The use of image-guided surgery for draining a parapharyngeal abscess has been previously reported, with computed tomography for an intra-oral approach and ultrasound for an external approach. We present the first case report of a four-year-old child with a retropharyngeal abscess and a deep parapharyngeal abscess in whom neck ultrasound was used to assist intra-oral drainage.

Neck ultrasound may be used in paediatric patients to visualise access to the parapharyngeal space through the intra-oral route for abscess drainage.