Purulent Pharyngitis - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Purulent pharyngitis

Purulent pharyngitis is a disease in which the back of the throat is inflamed with the formation of a purulent exudate. Most often, this process develops as a result of trauma to the throat, or due to the spread of pyogenic microorganisms from nearby foci of infection.

Purulent pharyngitis is severe, accompanied by an increase in body temperature and requires immediate medical attention.

Content:

• Causes of purulent pharyngitis
• Symptoms of purulent pharyngitis
• Diagnostics of the purulent pharyngitis
• Treatment of purulent pharyngitis

Causes of purulent pharyngitis

The causes of purulent pharyngitis are as follows:

• The spread of a purulent infection to the mucous membrane of the throat from nearby foci of inflammation. It can be purulent otitis media, purulent sinusitis or rhinitis, tonsillitis, parotitis, mastoiditis.
• Acute pharyngitis (viral or bacterial), characterized by a complicated course. In some cases, fungal pharyngitis can lead to suppuration of the mucous membrane of the throat.
• Purulent pharyngitis can be a complication of tonsillectomy and adenotomy.
• Throat trauma is one of the most common causes of purulent pharyngitis. Damage to the mucous membrane can occur from fish bone, coarse or very hot food, and other foreign objects.
• Chronic diseases, decreased immunity, diabetes mellitus, HIV infection, malignant tumor - all these factors increase the risk of developing purulent pharyngitis.
• Pharyngitis is complicated by suppuration with the regular use of alcoholic beverages, with smoking and inhalation of air polluted with smoke, dust, chemical impurities.
• The formation of an ozena in the throat leads to the development of purulent pharyngitis. Most often this occurs with advanced stages of chronic pharyngitis, accompanied by atrophic processes in the mucous membrane of the throat.

Symptoms of purulent pharyngitis

Symptoms of purulent pharyngitis are obvious to the patient, manifested by severe discomfort in the throat, which makes a person seek medical help.

The clinical picture of the disease is characterized by the following symptoms:

• Sore throat that gets worse when swallowing.
• Congestion in the ears, irradiation of pain in the ears.
• Persistent paroxysmal cough, accompanied by the separation of viscous sputum with impurities of pus.
• Increase and soreness of the cervical and submandibular lymph nodes.
• Hyperemia of the mucous membrane of the throat.
• Swelling of the uvula, lateral ridges, tonsils.
• The presence of a mucopurulent film on the back of the throat, possibly spreading to the tonsils.
• Fetid odor from the patient's mouth.
• Erosions may appear on the back of the throat.
• Body temperature with purulent pharyngitis most often increases to high values. Sometimes there is a fever with headache, muscle and joint pain. At the same time, a person's appetite worsens, weakness and fatigue increase.

Depending on the cause of purulent pharyngitis, the symptoms of the disease will vary somewhat. So, in the presence of ozena, a large fetid ulcer covered with crusts will be visible on the mucous membrane of the throat. With the development of purulent pharyngitis against the background of a chronic focus of infection in the sinuses, there will be symptoms such as difficulty in nasal breathing, pain in the temples, forehead, etc. The tonsils can be penetrated with purulent plugs or grooves.

Diagnostics of the purulent pharyngitis

Diagnosis of purulent pharyngitis is in the competence of the otolaryngologist. The doctor interviews the patient, examines him with the obligatory pharyngoscopy. To identify bacterial or viral pathogens of inflammation, it is necessary to conduct a bacterial and virological examination of a smear taken from the throat.

Treatment of purulent pharyngitis

Treatment of purulent pharyngitis is based on eliminating the cause that led to the development of the disease. Therapy includes local and general treatments. Most often, patients need antibiotics. Their selection is carried out on the basis of which drugs the isolated bacterial flora was sensitive to. Most often these are antibiotics of the penicillin series, although the appointment of cephalosporins and macrolides is possible.

In the presence of a high body temperature and severe pain, patients are recommended to take anti-inflammatory drugs, including: Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, Nimesulide. To relieve edema, you can use hyposensitizing drugs - these are Erius, Erespal, Loratadin.

Local treatment is reduced to regular gargling with sodium chloride solution, disinfectants and alkaline compounds. This is necessary to remove the purulent mucus that is the source of the infection. Means for local treatment of the throat can be: Chlorophyllipt, Eludril, Stopangin, Jox. Throat sprays are convenient to use, they are great for those situations where there is no opportunity to rinse it. For the local treatment of purulent pharyngitis, you can use drugs such as: Hexoral, Lugol, Cameton, Ingalipt, Strepsils, Orasept, Tantum verde, Stopangin, Proposol. You can also use tablets and lozenges for sucking - these are Strepsils, Lizobakt, Doctor Mom, Septolete, etc.

There are certain requirements for the food and liquid that the patient consumes. First, it shouldn't be too hot or cold. Secondly, you should give up spicy, sour and salty foods. Thirdly, the diet during the period of exacerbation of the disease should be based on light foods. It is good if fresh vegetables and fruits, fermented milk drinks are on the table every day.

If the body temperature is not elevated, then you can do inhalation with a nebulizer. It is best to use alkaline mineral water as a medicinal solution for purulent pharyngitis. Mucolytic drugs (Ambrobene, Ambroxol, Lazolvan, etc.) are used in the presence of viscous sputum that is difficult to separate. These medicines are available in tablet form and in the form of a solution for inhalation.

Complex treatment of purulent pharyngitis with sanitation of all foci of infection allows you to quickly get rid of inflammation and prevent the development of complications. During the treatment of the acute stage of the disease, the patient should stay at home and adhere to bed rest. Hospitalization is usually not required.

The author of the article: Lazarev Oleg Vladimirovich | ENT

Education: In 2009, he received a diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" at the Petrozavodsk State University. After completing an internship at the Murmansk Regional Clinical Hospital, he received a diploma in Otorhinolaryngology (2010)