Acute Suppurative Adenitis in Children: A Review of 964 Cases

A review of 964 cases of acute suppurative adenitis in children treated surgically during the period 1960 to 1968 is reported. Findings with respect to aetiology, age, site, duration of illness, and stay in hospital, are in accord with other reported series. Seventy per cent had received an antibiotic prior to admission, penicillin being the commonest. All were treated by incision and drainage under general anaesthesia. Staphylococcus pyogenes was grown from 67 per cent of the abscesses. Resistance of this organism to penicillin rose progressively over the period of review. In the last 20 years, the staphylococcus has replaced the streptococcus as the most common infecting organism in suppurative adenitis. It is suggested that these patients present late for medical treatment and come to surgery in spite of antibiotic treatment.