• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.207-211
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• 1999

Ludwig's angina is an aggressive infection that bilaterally involves the submandibular, sublingual, and submental fascial spaces. Dental infection is the major etiologic factor in the pathogenesis. The treatment of Ludwig's angina involves management of the airway, administration of appropriate antibiotics, and surgical intervention when needed. Airway obstruction due to edema of the mouth floor remains the most life-threatening problem of Ludwig's angina. We report a case of Ludwig's angina with review of literatures.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1979.05a
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• pp.9.1-10
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• 1979

The authors have recently observed a case of Ludwig's angina with forming mediastinal fistula & pneumonia. The Ludwing's angina is the cellulitis of the mouth floor and neck, ie, of the sublingual space. The suppurative inflammation of this space develops from dental infection, and can also develop from ulceration or inflammation of the mouth floor and the tongue base, lingual tonsillitis or salivary calculi. The main causes are characterized as mixed infection which hemolytic streptococcus and staphylococcus are considered to be pathognomic organisms. It may be followed as complications of mediastinal extension, parapharyngeal extension and laryngeal edema. This is the report on this case with literature review.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 1997

Ludwig's angina has been defined as a potentially lethal, rapidly spreading cellulitis, involving the sublingual and submandibular spaces, and is manifesed by a brawny, suprahyoid induration, tender swelling in the floor of mouth, elevation and posterior displacement of tongue. This paper is of interest not only because of severity of infection but also because of associated diabetic mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a complex syndrome of disordered metabolism and elevated blood glucose, it results from deficiency of insulin secretion of combination of insulin resistance and inadequate insulin secretion. The effects of diabetic mellitus include neuropathy, vascular insufficiency, decreased leukocytic function, hematologic change etc. Clinically this may be refelected by the increased severity of infections seen in diabetics. The treatment of infections in diabetics are reduction of number of microbes through the use of appropriated antimicrobial agents and proper surgical drainage and improvement of the host factors by tight control of insulin replacement and immediate intervention to correct abnormalities of the local factors by drainage, debriment, and removal of avoidance of foreign bodies. The authors present the report of the Ludwig's angina in patient with diabetic mellitus, with literature review and good clinical result.

• Journal of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.189-193
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• 2013

We experienced dfficult airway management in a patient who had Ludwig angina with morbid obesity, dfficulty with mouth opening and neck extension. We planned to perform awake-nasotracheal intubation with fiberoptic bronchoscopy but the patient's condition was not suitable to do this procedure. Thus, we tried fiberoptic nasotracheal intubation under general anesthesia but we experienced difficult airway management due to epistaxis. We tried to use video laryngoscope instead of fiberpotic bronchoscopy but also failed to guide the tube into trachea due to limited mouth opening. We used video laryngoscope to make a view of vocal cord and used fiberoptic bronchoscope as an intubation guide of endotrachedal tube and successfully intubated the patient.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.375-378
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• 1999

Incidence and mortality rate of maxillofacial infection is relatively low in the era of antibiotics. Despite the use of antibiotics, delayed treatment, underlying systemic diseases, drug-resistant microorganisms may result in life-threatening situations. The deep neck infection developed from odontogenic infection may result in sepsis, mediastinitis, aspiration pneumonia, asphyxia. Sepsis is the most dangerous complication which can quickly result in a number of lethal situations. The treatment of sepsis includes awareness of such complication, use of sensitive antibiotics, removal of infection source, and hemodynamic, respiratory and metabolic support. We experienced a patient who died of sepsis, which developed from odontogenic infection. The initial diagnosis was a buccal space cellulitis. However, in spite of medical and surgical treatment, this progressed to Ludwig's angina and then deep neck infection and finally sepsis. On the 10th hospital day, the patient died of multiorgan failure caused by sepsis.

• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.88-92
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• 2012

Also called necrobacillosis or postanginal sepsis, Lemierre's syndrome (LS) is an uncommon but potentially lethal complication of odontogenic infection. A 27-year-old male diagnosed with Ludwig's angina was transferred from a local hospital due to continuous fever and chills after incision and drainage under general anesthesia. The swelling of both submental and submandibular area subsided, but the fever and chills persisted. While generalized malaise improved, sepsis developed together with the deterioration of liver function. The chest computed tomography scan revealed multiple cavitations throughout both lungs, which were diagnosed as septic pulmonary embolism. After consulting the department of infectious diseases, the patient was treated with intravenous antibiotics focusing on vancomycin and additional antibiotics. After 3 weeks of treatment, the patient recovered completely. Despite its decreased mortality, dentists are not familiar with LS, and it is difficult to diagnose correctly. In this paper, we report a case and present a review of literature.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.135-138
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• 2017

Intraoperative airway obstruction is perplexing to anesthesiologists because the patient may fall into danger rapidly. A 74-year-old woman underwent an emergency incision and drainage for a deep neck infection of dental origin. She was orally intubated with a 6. 0 mm internal diameter reinforced endotracheal tube by video laryngoscope using volatile induction and maintenance anesthesia (VIMA) with sevoflurane, fentanyl ($100{\mu}g$), and succinylcholine (75 mg). During surgery, peak inspiratory pressure increased from 22 to $38cmH_2O$ and plateau pressure increased from 20 to $28cmH_2O$. We maintained anesthesia because we were unable to access the airway, which was covered with surgical drapes, and tidal volume was delivered. At the end of surgery, we found a longitudinal fold inside the tube with a fiberoptic bronchoscope. The patient was reintubated with another tube and ventilation immediately improved. We recognized that the tube was obstructed due to dissection of the inner layer.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.136-143
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• 2008

Infections involved with the oral and maxillofacial area are associated with various anatomical structures. If the proper treatment is not done in an immediate period, the infections will be quite fatal. The causes of the infections are numerous, but the most common cause of odontogenic infections in children is a dental caries. It is known to lead to some kinds of diseases such as periapical abscess, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, Ludwig's angina, toxic shock syndrome and so on. The common pathogenic sequence of fascial abscess is a necrotic pulpal inflammation in the form of dentoalvelor abscess which spreads over and gradually penetrates into the fascial membranes through the cortical bones and finally contracts the potential fascial spaces. If the infections of oral maxillofacial area were penetrated into the surrounding soft tissues, then they would diffuse into the directions of the least tissue resistance along with the connective tissues and the fascial spaces. These infections can be properly cured by tooth extraction, endodontic therapy, surgical treatment including Incision & drainage and antibiotics. The purpose of the cases is to report the satisfactory treatment results in the patients derived from the canine fascial space abscesss or buccal fascial space ones of the odontogenic origin.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 1998

Disturbances of the interrelationship among the host, environment, microorganism will cause the infection clinically. Infection can be classified into bacterial, viral, fungal origin, Bacterial infection is most common due to dental caries, periodontal disease. These infections have the potential to spread via the fascial spaces in the head and neck region. We have undertaken clinical studies on infections in the oral and maxillofacial regions by analyzing 78 hospitalized patients in the Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dong-A University Hospital from 1994 to 1997. The results were as fellows; l. Odontogenic infections were most common with the incidence of 84.6%. 2. Considering the number of involved space, single space was 83.3%, double or more space was 16.6%. The most common fascial space involved was submandibular space and followed by buccal space, 3. The most causative organism isolated from the pus cultures was streptococci group 35.4%. 4. Antibiotics were administrated in all cases, and surgical incision and drainage was performed in 87.2%. 5. Combined administration of penicillin and aminoglycoside was most common in 34.6%.. 6. 7 cases were diagnosed as Ludwig's angina and tracheostomy was done in 2 cases of them.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.688-692
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• 2000

Descending Necrotizing Mediastinitis(DNM) is a complication of oropharyngeal infections that can spread to the mediastinum. It is difficult to diagnose early because clinical and radiologic findings appear in the late stage of the infection. late diagnosis is the principal reason for the high mortality in DNM. An 18-year-old female admitted with Ludwig's angina from dental caries. Despite of combined antibiotics, dental extraction and drainge of submental abscess, infection spread to the cervical area. Chest computed tomogram revealed extension of the abscess to the pretracheal and periaortic space and development of bilateral pleural empyema. We performed bilateral cervical mediastinotomy and thoracotomy for drainage and debridement. Tracheostomy to secure the airway and postoperative pleural irrigation were performed. Postoperative course was uneventful and patient was discharged on the 40th postoperative day. It is important to perform chest CT scanning for early diagnosis of DNM when oropharyngeal infection spreads to the cervical area. Improved survival of patients with DNM implies early and radical surgical drainage and debridement via a cervical mediastinomy and thoracotomy.