Deep neck infections, which affect various cervical compartments, may result in serious morbidity and mortality. Antibiotic therapy has greatly reduced the complications of these infections, but they make the diagnosis and management more difficult because of the masking effect. The authors recently experienced 16 cases of these infections at Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital and the followings were obtained. 1) The age of onset was from two to seventy with the mean age of thirty seven, and nine cases were male and seven cases were female. 2) The sites of infections were six cases of submandibular space(37.5%), six cases of retropharyngeal space(37.5%), and five cases of parapharyngeal space(31.3%), where more than a site were involved in two cases. 3) The possible etiologic events were three cases of dental infection(18.8%), three cases of acute tonsillitis(18.8%), two cases of upper respiratory infection(12.5%), two cases of neck trauma(12.5%), a case of peritonsillar abscess(6.3%), a case of cervical lymphadenitis(6.3%) and four cases of unknown origin(25%). 4) The concurrent disease were three cases of Diabetes mellitus(18.8%), four cases of pulmonary tuberculosis(25%), a case of liver cirrhosis(6.3%), and a case of congestive heart failure(6.3%). 5) The isolated organisms of 14 cases were five cases of α-hemolytic streptococcus, two cases of staphylococcus species, a case of lactobacillus, a case of enterobacter, and five cases of no growth. 6) The ultrasonogram and C-T scan were helpful for the diagnosis and proper management. 7) Eleven cases were treated surgically and five cases were treated medically.
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