Submandibular abscess: Case report in a pregnant patient

Abstract

Odontogenic infections are severe infectious processes that affect the cervical and facial anatomical spaces and are potentially life-threatening.

A submandibular abscess is a swelling accompanied by pus formation in the submandibular region, a space deep in the neck.

This is a 24-year-old female patient, at 27.2 weeks' gestation, confirmed by ultrasound. She presented to the emergency department with a 2-week-old mass in her left maxilla. The mass had increased in size in the 3 days prior to diagnosis, accompanied by occasional flushing and hyperthermia, severe pain treated with 500 mg of paracetamol and 500 mg of naproxen daily at night, and dyspnea and fever, which were denied. The fetus presented with adequate motility, no vaginal bleeding, and signs and symptoms of systemic inflammation, which were denied.

The importance of addressing this case of submaxillary abscess for research lies in the fact that it is a pathology that has been rarely described in case reports; its presentation during pregnancy is not particularly unusual, since any patient with a periodontal infection may present with an abscess of this origin, so its description is relevant to medical knowledge.