METHODS: We reviewed 39 cases of splenic abscesses in a district hospital in Kapit, Sarawak, from January 2017 to December 2018. The demographics, clinical characteristics, underlying diseases, causative organisms, therapeutic methods, and mortality rates were investigated.
RESULTS: There were 21 males and 18 females (mean age, 33.7±2.7 years). Almost all patients (97.4%) had a history of pyrexia. Diabetes mellitus was present in 8 patients (20.5%). Splenic abscesses were diagnosed using ultrasonography and were multiple in all 39 cases. Positive blood cultures were obtained in 20 patients (51.3%), and all yielded B. pseudomallei. Melioidosis serology was positive in 9 of 19 patients (47.4%) with negative blood cultures. All patients were treated for melioidosis with antibiotics without the need for surgical intervention. All splenic abscesses resolved after anti-melioidosis treatment was completed. One patient died (2.6%) as a result of B. pseudomallei septicaemia with multiorgan failure.
CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonography is a valuable tool for diagnosing splenic abscesses in resource-limited settings. B. pseudomallei was the most common etiological agent of splenic abscesses in our study.
METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on a group of paediatric population aged 0 till 12 years of age, with a history of admission to paediatric ENT ward from the year 2010 till 2015 in HTJS. Initially, 69 children with the diagnoses of various neck infections were identified. Then, the sample amount was narrowed to 30 patients with neck abscesses only.
RESULTS: The data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test. Twentyfive out of the 30 patients required operative drainage of abscess (83.3%). In this group, children aged ≤2 years old were the largest group to have undergone surgical drainage. Only five patients were successfully treated with antibiotic therapy alone. Nineteen children came only after developing neck swelling for more than a week, in which 18 of them required surgery.
CONCLUSION: Younger group of children are more likely to undergo surgical drainage than older children for neck abscess. Also, children who came in after two weeks of symptoms have a higher probablity of requiring surgery than antbiotic alone. Nonetheless, every child who comes in with neck abscess should be evaluated and treated early to avoid any sinister complications.