Is corticosteroid a treatment choice for the management of peritonsillar abscess?

To investigate the effect of the single systemic use of corticosteroid following drainage procedure in patients with peritonsillar abscess (PTA).

This retrospective case-control trial included 32 patients with the diagnosis of PTA between December 2013 and January 2016 in our clinic. Patients were divided into two groups based on the approaches of two authors for the treatment after PTA drainage. The study group included the patients treated with single dose systemic corticosteroid after PTA drainage. Other patients who had no corticosteroid treatment were in the control group. Two groups were compared based on time to oral intake, grade of trismus, pain severity and duration of hospitalization.

Statistically significant differences between two groups were observed in terms of time to oral intake, grade of trismus, pain severity and length of hospitalization. The degree of trismus and pain severity significantly decreased in study group comparing to control group at the end of the first day. This difference disappeared at Day 7. Time to oral intake and the duration of hospitalization were shorter in the study group than in control group.

Corticosteroid treatment following drainage procedure in patients with peritonsillar abscess improves pain severity and trismus thus it decreases time to oral intake and duration of hospitalization.