Permucosal needle drainage of peritonsillar abscesses. A five-year experience.

Forty-one patients with proved peritonsillar abscesses were treated during a five-year period with needle aspiration as the sole initial surgical treatment. Ninety percent (37/41) of the patients' abscesses resolved without further invasive therapy. All but two of the patients were treated as outpatients. Fifty percent (21/41) of the patients were treated by nonotolaryngologists. These data indicate that outpatient needle aspiration is the simplest, most cost-effective therapy for peritonsillar abscess.