Improving the management of suspected tonsillitis and peritonsillar abscess referred to ENT – a coronavirus disease 2019 service improvement

Abstract

Background. The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on healthcare has led to rapid changes in otolaryngology service provisions. As such, new standard operating procedures for the management of suspected tonsillitis or quinsy were implemented in our centre. Methods.A retrospective audit was performed of acute referrals to ENT of patients with suspected tonsillitis, peritonsillar cellulitis or quinsy, during the 10 weeks before (group 1) and 10 weeks after (group 2) implementation of the new standard operating procedures.Results. Group 2 received fewer referrals. Fewer nasendoscopies were performed and corticosteroid use was reduced. The frequency of quinsy drainage performed under local anaesthetic increased, although the difference was not statistically significant. Hospital admission rates decreased from 56.1 to 20.4 per cent,

Ubi pus, ibi evacua: a review of 601 peritonsillar abscess adult cases

“…Our data indicate that individuals with comorbidities are at an increased risk of developing complications; hence, they should be treated as inpatients, and oral antibiotics should be chosen for adults without systemic disorders. Cereceda-Monteoliva et al confirm this observation, proposing that, particularly in the COVID-19 era, PTA care should be offered to patients without systematic comorbidities in an outpatient setting [20].…”

Infecciones periamigdalinas en el área de salud de León los años previos a la pandemia, durante la misma y posterior a ella. Estudio de un periodo de 6 años

“…Hay varios autores que durante la pandemia recomendaban el tratamiento con corticoides y antibióticos intravenosos para evitar el riesgo de infección por aerosoles y generación de gotas [13,20,21] tratamiento que ya se venía haciendo desde hace años como alternativa a la incisión y el drenaje [2,3]. A pesar de la efectividad del tratamiento inicial, las infecciones periamigdalinas pueden recurrir en forma de flemón u absceso.…”