Actinomycosis of submandibular gland: An unusual presentation of a rare entity

Surgical debridement as a treatment strategy for cervicofacial actinomycosis-Literature review and case report

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Antibiotic therapy and surgical debridement as a form of treatment of actinomycosis.

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Actinomycosis does not respond well antibiotic therapy before curettage.

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Debridement proved to be important for the reduction of antibiotic therapy time.

Introduction

Actinomycosis is a rare chronic disease caused by bacterial infection of the Actinomyces genus. Standard treatment usually involves drainage and high doses of antibiotic therapy, which takes between 6–12 weeks for complete resolution.

Presentation of case

A 57-year-old male was admitted with soft tissue infection-like inflammation of the parasymphysis region, further diagnosed as cervicofacial actinomycosis. Treatment comprised of surgical debridement associated with antibiotic therapy, which took only 4 weeks for complete healing.

Discussion

Although surgical debridement isn’t part of the standard treatment, it has shown to be an interesting tool for promoting quick healing and infection control.

Conclusion

The authors reported a successfully treatment of cervicofacial actinomycosis using surgical debridement as an adjuvant therapy, promoting faster healing, reducing antibiotic therapy time, costs and risks of bacterial resistance, which must be considered as an alternative approach in similar cases.

Submandibular gland actinomycosis: A rare disease - Worth to mention

Cervicofacial actinomycosis (AM) is a well-documented entity; however, primary AM of the submandibular gland is infrequent. The diagnosis is difficult due to its nonspecific clinical presentation and it usually mimics chronic granulomatous infection or malignant lesion. We report the case of a young female with AM of submandibular gland, presented as recurrent infection of submandibular gland, underwent its excision and confirmed on microscopy as Actinomyces.