Pharyngitis in Emergency Medicine Treatment & Management

  • Author: John R Acerra, MD; Chief Editor: Pamela L Dyne, MD   more...
 
Updated: May 6, 2010
 

Prehospital Care

  • Prehospital care usually is not necessary for uncomplicated pharyngitis unless airway compromise is an issue.
  • Intubation should not be attempted unless the patient stops breathing spontaneously.
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Emergency Department Care

  • Assess and secure the airway, if necessary.
  • Assess the patient for signs of toxicity, epiglottitis, or oropharyngeal abscess.[14]
  • Evaluate the hydration status because severe pharyngitis limits oral intake. Appropriate measures to rehydrate should be initiated, including intravenous hydration.
  • Assess for GAS infection if clinically suspected. A suggested algorithm as is follows.
    • In general, patients should not be treated without a positive culture or positive rapid antigen detection test result because of increasing antibiotic resistance. Guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and American Heart Association state that microbiologic confirmation (via a rapid antigen test or culture) is required for the diagnosis of GAS.[7, 5] New recommendations for pharyngitis therapy are due from the IDSA later in 2010.
    • Perform rapid antigen detection test if GAS is clinically suspected based on history and physical examination. If positive, begin antibiotic therapy. Testing does not usually need to be performed on patients with acute pharyngitis whose clinical and epidemiologic features do not suggest GAS as the etiology (Centor score 0-1).[13]
    • Patients who are positive for all 4 Centor criteria can often be treated with antibiotics without antigen testing or cultures.
    • Household contacts of patients with GAS infection or scarlet fever should be treated for a full 10 days without testing only if they have symptoms consistent with GAS.[5]
    • If clinically doubtful or the above criteria are not met, it is best to await rapid antigen or culture results to initiate antibiotic therapy.
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Consultations

With a few exceptions, uncomplicated cases of pharyngitis should not require a consultation. Infectious disease specialists should be consulted in the case of unusual presentation or in the case of a patient who is immunocompromised.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

John R Acerra, MD  Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Associate Director, International Emergency Medicine Fellowship, North Shore - LIJ Health System

John R Acerra, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Jerry Balentine, DO  Professor of Emergency Medicine, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine; Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Attending Physician in Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Barnabas Hospital

Jerry Balentine, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American College of Physician Executives, American Osteopathic Association, and New York Academy of Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Mark W Fourre, MD  Program Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Maine Medical Center; Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Vermont School of Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Pamela L Dyne, MD  Professor of Clinical Medicine/Emergency Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

Pamela L Dyne, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

References

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  2. Twefik TL, Al Garni M. Tonsillopharyngitis: Clinical highlights. J of Otolaryngology. 2005;34.

  3. Mostov PD. Treating the immunocompetent patient who presents with an upper respiratory infection: pharyngitis, sinusitis, and bronchitis. Prim Care. Mar 2007;34(1):39-58. [Medline].

  4. Pichichero ME, Casey JR. Systematic review of factors contributing to penicillin treatment failure in Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Dec 2007;137(6):851-857. [Medline].

  5. [Guideline] Gerber MA, Baltimore RS, Eaton CB, et al. Prevention of rheumatic fever and diagnosis and treatment of acute Streptococcal pharyngitis: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, the Interdisciplinary Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology, and the Interdisciplinary Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research: endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Circulation. Mar 24 2009;119(11):1541-51. [Medline].

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  10. Lemierre's syndrome, reemergence of a forgotten disease: a case report. Cases J. Mar 10 2009;2:6397. [Medline].

  11. [Best Evidence] Tanz RR, Gerber MA, Kabat W, Rippe J, Seshadri R, Shulman ST. Performance of a rapid antigen-detection test and throat culture in community pediatric offices: implications for management of pharyngitis. Pediatrics. Feb 2009;123(2):437-44. [Medline].

  12. Ayanruoh S, Waseem M, Quee F, Humphrey A, Reynolds T. Impact of rapid streptococcal test on antibiotic use in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. Nov 2009;25(11):748-50. [Medline].

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Streptococcus pyogenes at 100X magnification.
Rapid antigen detection test for group A beta-hemolytic streptococci.
Posterior pharynx with petechiae and exudates in a 12-year-old girl. Both the rapid antigen detection test and throat culture were positive for group A beta-hemolytic streptococci.
 
 
 
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