Occurrence of silk stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVES To elucidate the predisposing factors and clinical characteristics related to the occurrence of stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS The subjects were 232 patients who underwent excision and/or reconstruction and/or neck dissection for oral SCC using silk sutures for high ligation of the blood vessels. Detection rates and characteristics of patients with stitch abscess were retrospectively evaluated by comparing patients with and without stitch abscesses after surgery diagnosed by ultrasonography and findings of various modalities in 232 patients. Several echogenic dots with subtle acoustic shadows in a hypoechoic mass were identified as the characteristic findings of stitch abscess on US. The patient groups with and without stitch abscess were compared with respect to various factors to identify those that predispose to the occurrence of stitch abscess. The factors analyzed included patients' sex and age, chemotherapy treatment, radiotherapy treatment, the presence of a history of allergy, and blood test results. RESULTS A significant correlation was found between the occurrence of stitch abscess and age, liver function abnormalities on blood tests, and the presence of a history of allergy. Multiple stitch abscesses clearly tended to occur more often than single ones in patients with stitch abscess. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of stitch abscesses was related to age, liver dysfunction, and/or the presence of allergies. When diagnosing stitch abscess, the occurrence of multiple stitch abscesses is important.