Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-2l2gl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-01T10:12:24.050Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Airgun pellet injuries of the neck

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

J. A. Cook  and
R. S. Dawkins
J. A. Cook*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Whipps Cross Hospital, London.
R. S. Dawkins
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Whipps Cross Hospital, London.
*
Mr. J. A. Cook, Registrar in Otolaryngology, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Penetrating injuries of the neck are a cause of retropharyngeal abscess. Should a foreign body become lodged in the retropharyngeal tissues its removal may avoid this complication, but surgery can in itself be hazardous. Between 10 and 15 per cent of cases of retropharyngeal cellulitis resulting from whatever cause do not progress to abscess formation if treated conservatively. Consequently, it is important to have evidence of abscess formation before surgery is undertaken, as illustrated by this paper in the form of a case report and a review of the current literature.

Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 103 , Issue 4 , April 1989 , pp. 432 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barratt, G. E., Koopman, C. F., and Coulthard, S. W. (1984) Retropharyngeal abscess—a 10-year experience. Larngoscope, 94: 455–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. L. (1952) The influence of chemotherapeutic and antibiotic drugs on the incidence and course of deep neck infections. Annals of Otology, 61: 515–532.Google ScholarPubMed
Bruce-Chwatt, R. M., and Dawkins, R. S. (1980) Horner's syndrome associated with air-rifle wound of the neck: a case report. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 94: 1441–1446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greene, J. S. and Asher, I. M. (1984) Retropharyngeal abscess: apreviously unreported symptom. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 13(8): 615–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Last, R. J., (1978) Anatomy, Regional and Applied. 6th ed. Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Morrow, J. S., Haycock, C. E., and Lazaro, E. (1978) The ‘swallowed bullet’ syndrome. Journal of Trauma, 18(6): 464–466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paonessa, D. F., and Goldstein, J. C. (1976) Anatomy and Physiology of Head and Neck Infections (with Emphasis on the Fascia of the Face and Neck). Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, 9(3): 561–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaefer, S. D., Bucholz, R. W., Jones, R. E., Anderson, R. G., and Carder, H. M. (1981) ‘How I do it’—Head and Neck. A Targeted Problem and its Solution. Treatment of Transpharyngeal Missile Wounds to the Cervical Spine. Laryngoscope, 91: 146–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sprinkle, P. M., Veltri, R. W. and Kantor, L. M. (1974) Abscesses of the head and neck. Laryngoscope, 84: 1142–1148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wright, N. L. (1967) Cervical infections. American Journal of Surgery, 113: 379–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed