A clinical study on ludwig's angina

Shin, Sang Hun; Chung, In Kyo

Abstract

This is a retrospective study on the Ludwig's angina patients treated in Dept of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of Pusan National University Hospital for the period of Jan. 1985 to March 1996. The used materials of this study were 30 in total, including 18 male patients, 12 female patients. The author analyzed the distribution and incidence of sex, age, etiologic factor, pus culture, involved systemic disease, treatment methods, mortality rate. The results were as follows; 1. The incidences was higher in sixth decades(26.7%) and prevalent in male. 2. The most cause was odontogenic(83.3%) and in 15 cases(50%), the symptom aggravated after dental treatment. 3. The causative organism isolated from pus culture were Streptococci (40.7%), Staphylococci(22.2%), Bacteroid(14.8%), Candida(11.1%), Pseudomonas(3.7%), Pneumococci(3.7%), Salmonella(3.7%). 4. The patients with systemic disease were 66.7%, involved disease were DM(25%), malnutrition(22.7%), rheumatoid arthritis(11.4%), pulmonary disease(11.4%), hypertension(11.4%). 5. In all patients, surgical I&D was done, and 5 cases(16.7%) required tracheostomy. 6. In all patients, we used combination antibiotics, and the most commonly used antibiotics in the treatment were combination of Penicillin, Cephalosporin and Aminiglycoside(46.7%), and combination of Cephalosporin, Aminiglycoside and Metronidazole(30%). 7. The mortality rate was 6.7%.