Pediatric Patient and Hospital Characteristics Associated With Treatment of Peritonsillar Abscess and Peritonsillar Cellulitis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify patient and hospital characteristics associated with the choice of treatment for pediatric patients who present in the acute setting with peritonsillar abscess/cellulitis (PTA/PTC).

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was performed using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project emergency department, ambulatory, and inpatient state databases for the years 2010 and 2011. Children aged 0 to 17 years were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code for PTA/PTC. The main outcome of interest was treatment received, which included medical therapy alone, incision and drainage (IND) or tonsillectomy. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to model non-clinical factors associated with treatment received after adjusting for age, hospital state, race, primary expected payer, existing chronic condition(s), and type of hospital.

RESULTS: We identified 2994 patients who presented with PTA/PTC. The most common treatment choice was medical therapy alone (30.8%), followed by IND (30.5%) and tonsillectomy (9.4%). There were significant associations between treatment choice and race, primary payer status, and type of hospital (P < .05). We found that Hispanic patients, those with Medicaid as their primary expected payer, and those treated at a designated children's hospital were 3 nonclinical factors independently associated with an increase in likelihood of receiving tonsillectomy as treatment.

CONCLUSION: There are important nonclinical factors associated with treatment of children who present in the acute setting with PTA/PTC. Additional research is recommended to understand these observed differences in care and how they may affect health outcomes.