• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.799-802
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• 2007

Purpose: The masserteric space is an important tissue compartment of the face, but a disease in it is difficult to diagnose and treat. The submasseteric abscess is located between the masseter muscle and mandibular ramus with different appearances such as sepsis, infection, or tumor. Especially the common misdiagnosis of submasseteric abscess is acute or chronic parotitis. The purpose of this report is to pay special attention to the possible diagnosis of submasseteric abscess for the symptoms of unilateral cheek swelling and tenderness that accompany marked trismus. Methods: A 11-year-old boy came to our hospital because of facial swelling, tenderness, and trismus in a history of left cheek swelling and toothache. We diagnosed his case as submasseteric abscess by CT scan and surgical intervention was performed. Under general anesthesia, the abscess was opened by the intraoral incision and considerably massive pus was drained. Results: Swelling, tenderness, and trismus became to subside during postoperative 10 days and general condition and vital signs became stable. After 6 months, CT scan showed that both masseteric muscles were symmetric and there was no periosteal reaction of the mandible. Conclusion: In conclusion, submasseteric abscess is a rare infection with the symptoms of cheek tenderness and marked trismus. A detailed medical history and clinical examination of a patient as well as computed tomography(CT) are important tools in the accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of the submasseteric abscess. Adequate drainage, removal of cause, and antibiotic infusion are the management of choice.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2017

Once a submasseteric space infection is diagnosed, the key to resolving the infection is via surgical intervention to evacuate the pus. Although it is possible and occasionally practical to drain the submasseteric space via an intraoral approach, an extraoral approach may sometimes be required. Surgeons have encountered complications such as facial nerve damage during extraoral incision and drainage procedures, and they have felt that extraoral dissection was very difficult. As such, an easier and simpler technique is needed. Our department recently modified various drainage techniques for submasseteric space abscesses. Damage to the marginal branch of the facial nerve did not occur, and this technique was very simple and rapid, such that a novice physician could perform this procedure. This modified technique was possible with trismus and under local anesthesia. After intraorally checking the position of the drain, the intraoral wound is closed with an absorbable suture and the drain is fixed to the extraoral skin. When a masseteric space infection is diagnosed, multiple space involvement is ruled out, and dependent drainage is required, this modified drainage technique can be useful.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.496-500
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• 2005

A 22-year-old male patient had developed a submasseteric abscess secondary to a mandibular osteomyelitis at the age of 7 years old. The initial presentation at that time seems to be acute suppurative parotitis. The computed tomographic scans taken before surgery demonstrated diffuse deformity, sclerotic change and osteolytic lesion in the mandible. There was no marrow space on both sides of mandibular ramus and thin-walled cortical bone was seen. So, from the results of the computed tomography, the surgery was performed intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (IVRO) instead of performing the more commonly used bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy (BSSRO). In this report, we present a case of surgical correction of mandibular prognathism with fibrous-osseous lesion of mandible with using IVRO.