Management of peritonsillar abscess

This retrospective study compared immediate operation of a peritonsillar abscess (quinsy tonsillectomy) with immediate incision and drainage or permucosal aspiration followed by interval tonsillectomy. The study consisted of 148 cases treated from 1976 to 1994. Patient's ages ranged from 1 to 70 years (mean 28.7 years). There were 81 males and 67 females. Quinsy tonsillectomy was performed in 59 patients and permucosal aspiration or incision and drainage in 89 patients. The results showed that quinsy tonsillectomy had no significantly greater complications than permucosal aspiration and incision and drainage. The procedure of quinsy tonsillectomy was less difficult than interval tonsillectomy and constituted a one-stage curative operation. Hospitalization was reduced significantly (p<0.01) when compared to interval tonsillectomy.