Prognostic factors and effects of early surgical drainage in patients with peritonsillar abscess.

Abstract Peritonsillar abscess is a frequently encountered otorhinolaryngological emergency, but the characteristics of patients with this disease have not been described in detail. The objective of this study was to delineate prognostic factors associated with peritonsillar abscess and the effects of early surgical drainage for the treatment of peritonsillar abscess. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the medical records of 240 consecutive patients with PTA during the period from 2007 to 2013. Univariate analysis indicated that the period between symptom onset and relief was significantly longer in patients with high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) (>8.53 mg/dL, p  = 0.0073) and without early surgical drainage of pus ( p P P P  = 0.0004), no history of recurrent tonsillitis ( P  = 0.022), high CRP level ( P  = 0.0017), and no early surgical drainage of the abscess ( P  = 0.0014). Multivariate analysis identified older age ( P  = 0.0004), high CRP level ( P  = 0.0001), and no early drainage ( P