Microbiology of retropharyngeal abscesses in children
I. Brook
Aspiration of retropharyngeal abscesses was performed in 14 children.
Cultures were taken from aspirates for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and
all yielded bacterial growth. Anaerobes were isolated in all patients; they
were the only organisms isolated in two patients (14%) and were mixed with
aerobes in 12 patients (86%). There were 78 anaerobic isolates (5.6 per
specimen). The predominant anaerobes were Bacteroides species,
Peptostreptococcus species, and Fusobacterium species. There were 26
aerobic isolates (1.9 per specimen). The predominant aerobes were alpha-
and gamma-hemolytic streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus
species, and group A beta-hemolytic streptococci. beta-Lactamase production
was noted in 16 isolates recovered from ten patients (71%). These included
all isolates of S aureus, six of 18 Bacteroides melaninogenicus group
(33%), and two of three Bacteroides oralis (67%). These findings
demonstrate the major role of anaerobic organisms in retropharyngeal
abscesses and the presence of beta-lactamase-producing organisms in two
thirds of the patients.
