Parotid abscess in Singapore

R Ganesh, T Leese
Correspondence: Dr Trevor Leese, tbleese54@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT
Introduction In most parts of the world, acute parotid abscess is a rare pathology. It occurs mainly in elderly debilitated patients and patients with oral sepsis. In Singapore, this lesion appears to be more common.
Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients admitted to our hospital over a three-year period with parotid abscess.
Results Ten patients were treated for parotid abscess. Only two of these patients were elderly and debilitated. The remaining patients were atypical in that they were relatively young and fit with no history of oral sepsis. All the abscesses responded to simple drainage and antibiotic therapy without the need to resort to the radical drainage techniques reported historically.
Conclusion Parotid abscess is seen in an unusually young cohort of patients in Singapore. The cause for this is unclear but it may be a result of chronic oral dehydration as a consequence of our climate.

Keywords: parotid abscess, parotitis, salivary gland, suppurative parotitis
Singapore Med J 2005; 46(10): 553-556