Anesthesiologists are often consulted to help in the management of pediatric otolaryngologic emergencies. These include airway obstruction in children suffering from acute epiglottitis and croup. Surgical otolaryngologic emergencies such as foreign body aspiration, post-tonsillectomy bleeding, obstructive laryngeal papillomatosis, peritonsillar abscess, and laryngeal trauma can be life threaten...

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in paediatric practice. General practitioners in the United Kingdom have consequently been exhorted to minimise antibiotic prescribing for childhood upper respiratory infections. However, some data suggest an association between reduced prescribing and an increased incidence of rare complications of bacterial infection. We report national data on c...

The "hot potato voice" is widely recognized as a symptom of peritonsillar cellulitis or abscess; yet there have been no studies assessing the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract in peritonsillitis. Analysis was undertaken of formant frequencies in the articulation of the vowels /i:/. /a:/ and /u:/ in six subjects with peritonsillitis and compared with articulation once the peritonsilli...

In an attempt to assess the effect of antibiotic choice on the treatment of peritonsillar abscess, we compared the clinical efficacy of empiric intramuscular clindamycin and intravenous ampicillin/sulbactam (following needle aspiration of the abscess) in a prospective, randomized study of 58 patients. Patients in the clindamycin group were treated on an outpatient basis, whereas those in the am...

An anonymous postal survey of 200 consultants was used to audit the current prevalent practices in the management of quinsy in the UK; 101 responded. The findings reveal that on average an otolaryngology department treats 29 cases per year, the vast majority (94%) on an inpatient basis. The main initial treatment was needle aspiration combined with intravenous antibiotics. Interestingly, those ...