Descending necrotizing mediastinitis: Systematic review on its treatment in the last 6 years, 75 years after its description

ABSTRACT Background Descending necrotizing mediastinitis is a serious infection involving the neck and the chest, in which an odontogenic, pharyngeal, or cervical infection spreads rapidly to the thoracic cavity, with a high death rate by sepsis and organic failure if not treated quickly and properly. Methods A systematic search in the electronic database PubMed was conducted using the keywords “mediastinitis” and “descending necrotizing mediastinitis” resulting in 2560 items, filters were activated (systematic review, meta‐analysis, and clinical trial) resulting in 60 articles, from which we selected relevant articles on the topic. Results The best available evidence we could obtain was from 26 case series with evidence level III. The overall mortality in this period was 17.5%. Conclusion For mediastinitis limited to the upper part of the mediastinum, transcervical drainage may be sufficient; cases that extended below the tracheal carina may require cervical and transthoracic drainage. A multidisciplinary therapeutic approach has allowed a reduction in its mortality. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E2275–E2283, 2016