Management of nasal septal abscess in childhood: our experience

A nasal septal. abscess is usually the result of an infected hematoma of the septum. A secondary septal abscess may be the result of infections extending from any of the neighbouring tissues. The necrosis of septal. cartilage may lead to nasal deformities and severe impairment of nasal patency and growth. Objectives: Assess if the drainage of the abscess and the immediate reconstruction of the destroyed nasal septum in the acute phase is the best treatment to prevent short- and long-term effect on nasal and midface growth. Methods: Three pediatric patients treated with drainage and immediate implantation of homologous bank cartilage prior to 1990 and four treated with mosaic plastic using small pieces of residual septal cartilage assembled with fibrin glue. Result: No complication were observed in the follow-up and any deformities in the long-term controls. Conclusions: The drainage and immediate reconstruction of the nesal septum are the golden standard in the treatment of the septum infected haematoma. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.