TITLE:
Diffuse Cervico-Facial Cellulitis: Epidemiological and Clinical Aspects of 297 Cases
AUTHORS:
Houra Ahmed, Darel Mapali, Cire Ndiaye, Diegane Faye, Mame Fatou Ndour, Ngor Ndour, Moustapha Ndiaye, Abdourahmane Tall, Mamadou Bobo Diallo, Ngone Ndiaye, Issa Cheikh Ndiaye
KEYWORDS:
Cellulitis, Cervico-Facial, Dakar
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.12 No.5,
August
9,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Cervicofacial cellulitis is a medical and surgical emergency, it is an extensive infection of the aponeurotic spaces of the face and neck. Although frequent in black Africa rather than in developed countries, they remain associated with a poor prognosis and few studies have been done on this subject. Their management must be early, probabilistic and then adapted to the bacteriological results of the pus taken. As Senegal is one of the many sub-Saharan African countries without recent data on cervicofacial cellulitis, we felt it was important to review the situation. The aim of our study was to describe the epidemiological and clinical aspects of cervicofacial cellulitis in the ENT department of Lamine Sine DIOP of the Fann National University Hospital of Dakar. Materials and Method: This was a retrospective study conducted over 5 years from January 2017 to December 2021 in the ENT-CCF LAMINE SINE DIOP Department of the CHNU FANN in Dakar. Our data sources were hospitalization registers and medical records of patients hospitalized for cervicofacial cellulitis. Our data were analyzed using the spss 12 for windows software. Results: During this 5-year period, we collected 297 cases of cervicofacial cellulitis, i.e. 19% of the hospitalizations. The average age was 35 years with a sex ratio of 2.23. The notion of taking NSAIDs was found in 90.57% of the cases, the immunocompromised background was present in 18 patients, i.e. 6.06% of the cases. The site of the swelling was sub-mento-maxillary in 49% of the cases and anterior cervical in 5% of cases. The portal of entry was dental in 189 patients, i.e. 64% of cases, and unknown in 3%. 4 deaths were recorded, i.e. 1.35% of patients hospitalized for cervicofacial cellulitis, and 1 case of mediastinitis with polyseritis was transferred to the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, which had a favourable outcome. Conclusion: Cervicofacial cellulitis is a fairly common infection with a poor prognosis in developing countries. They affect a relatively young and healthy segment of the population. At the National University Hospital of Fann in Dakar, they are increasingly frequent and linked to the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.