Descending Necrotizing Mediastinitis: Transcervical Drainage is Not Enough

One of the most lethal forms of mediastinitis is descending necrotizing mediastinitis, in which infection arising from the oropharynx spreads to the mediastinum. Two recently treated patients are reported, and the English-language literature on this disease is reviewed from 1960 to the present. Despite the development of computed tomographic scanning to aid in the early diagnosis of mediastinitis, the mortality for descending necrotizing mediastinitis has not changed over the past 30 years, in large part because of continued dependence on transcervical mediastinal drainage. Although transcervical drainage is usually effective in the treatment of acute mediastinitis due to a cervical esophageal perforation, this approach in the patient with descending necrotizing mediastinitis fails to provide adequate drainage and predisposes to sepsis and a poor outcome. In addition to cervical drainage, aggressive, early mediastinal exploration--debridement and drainage through a subxiphoid incision or thoracotomy--is advocated to salvage the patient with descending necrotizing mediastinitis.