Cervical lymphadenitis refers to inflammation of one or more lymph nodes of the neck. This condition is a common problem in the pediatric age group and largely infectious in etiology. The most commonly involved lymph nodes are the submandibular, upper cervical, submental, occipital, and lower cervical nodes¹⁾. Large (>2-3 cm), solitary, tender, unilateral cervical lymph nodes that rapidly enlarge in the preschool age child are commonly due to bacterial infection²⁾. Staphylococcus aureus and group A streptococcus are the most common bacterial pathogens³⁾.

If there is a failure to respond to antibiotics medication, open surgical drainage is recommended for treatment of cervical lymphadenitis4-⁶⁾. But this invasive procedure usually requires general anesthesia and may result in a disfiguring scar⁷⁾. Therefore, needle aspiration for suppurative cervical lymphadenitis in children not only can be an alternative method to an open surgical drainage procedure, but also an effective and safe treatment of suppurative cervical lymphadenitis in other studies7, ⁸⁾.

There is no data and a study about needle aspiration for the pediatric suppurative cervical lymphadenitis in Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the needle aspiration alternative to open surgical drainage of patient with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that required surgical drainage.

Data were collected on children diagnosed with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis at Pusan National University Hospital from January 1998 to June 2008 who underwent needle aspiration. They were referred for a drainage procedure because they needed to require open surgical drainage. We studied 38 children with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that required open surgical drainage as management of infected lymph nodes.

The aspiration procedure was done using 18 or 21 gauge needle under US guide. After a local anesthetic ointment (EMLA®, Astra, Södertälje, Sweden) was applied for 1 hour before the aspiration in all patients, aspiration was performed until there was no return in the 5 mL syringe. In noncooperative patients, a conscious sedation with midazolam (0.05-0.1 mg/kg) was done with oxygen monitoring throughout the procedure. The aspirated specimen was sent for microbiologic culture study to the microbiology laboratory.

For the clinical database, we retrospectively collected demographic details, clinical characteristics, laboratory data, presentation of involved lymph nodes, and culture of aspirated fluid. We excluded anatomical anomalies, immunologic abnormality, BCG lymphadenitis, and TB lymphadenitis. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test and chi-square analysis.

Suppurative cervical lymphadenitis is a common problem in children. Most children with this condition are treated successfully without complication. Forty to eighty percent of cases of acute unilateral cervical lymphadenitis of 1- to 4-year old children are due to S. aureus or S. pyogenes¹⁾. Antibiotics should be targeted against S. aureus and group A streptococcus , and should include a 10-day course of oral cephalexin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, or clindamycin⁹⁾. In most cases, symptomatic improvement should be noted after 2 to 3 days of therapy, although complete resolution of nodal enlargement may require several weeks²⁾.

The initial treatment approach of patients with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that had failed to respond to antibiotic treatment is open surgical drainage. Some investigators reported considering an open approach when there is no improvement after 48-72 hours of appropriate antibiotic treatment4, ¹⁰⁾. But in the pediatric age group, open surgical drainage has some limitations. It needs to be performed under general anesthesia, and may be associated with disfiguring scars. Other limitations are longer hospitalization and peri- and post-operative morbidity.

In our study, needle aspiration is mentioned as a therapeutic rather than diagnostic procedure. Needle aspiration is limited evidence to suggest a single definitive approach to the work-up and treatment of a child with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis. But it has been used successfully in patients with atypical mycobacterial cervical adenitis¹¹⁾.

In a previous study, Gorenstein et al⁸⁾ reported that therapeutic needle aspiration was an attractive alternative to an open incision and drainage procedure. They suggested that seven (70%) out of 10 patients had 1 puncture and all patients had no scars and relapses of lymph nodes. All patients responded favorably to the procedure with defervescence and gradual regression of the cervical mass. Serour et al⁷⁾ reported needle aspiration as the treatment of suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that required drainage procedures in thirty-five children seems to be an effective and safe treatment of suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that may avoid open surgical drainage. Twenty-seven (77.1%) out of 35 children underwent 1 puncture. There were no major complications and no relapses or scar formation.

In our study, thirty-eight children underwent needle aspiration treatment with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that required open surgical drainage. All patients underwent only 1 puncture. Two patients (5.2%) out of 38 patients experienced reformation of an abscess and all recovered completely after antibiotic retreatment. Two patients that experienced reformation of an abscess received initially antibiotic treatment against S. aureus and group A streptococcus because the most common pathogens are S. aureus and group A streptococcus³⁾. After isolation in culture, antibiotic re-treatment is based on determination of the etiological agent and its relevant antibiotic sensitivity. A minor complication was detected in 2 patients. One was remnant necrotic tissue and the other was a small scar formation, which was resolved spontaneously in both patients. Similar to other studies, there were no major complications in our study. But two (5.2%) out of 38 patients had a minor complication that was not troublesome and was resolved spontaneously.

In conclusion, the advantage of needle aspiration over open surgical drainage is that it is a simple, safe and effective procedure which does not require general anesthesia. Our study had several limitations. First, this was a retrospective study. Second, this single-center study included only a small number of patients. Therefore, further investigation is clearly needed to determine an initial approach of patients with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis that required open surgical drainage through prospective and large-scale studies.