Comparison of C-Reactive Protein and Hematological Inflammation Indices in Head and Neck Abscesses: A Retrospective Study

Purpose This study aimed to identify inflammation indices that can be used to monitor treatment response and predict the length of hospital stay in patients treated for abscesses in the head and neck region. Methods This retrospective study included patients who were treated for head and neck abscesses as the study group. The study group consisted of 50 patients, while the control group included 100 patients. Statistical analyses were performed regarding age, sex, complete blood count results, C-reactive protein levels, abscess localization, length of hospital stay, pan-immune-inflammation value, systemic inflammatory response index, systemic immune-inflammation index, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, plateletcrit, and infection discrimination index. Results There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of age ( p  = 0.351) and sex ( p  = 1.000). The most frequent diagnosis in this group was submandibular space abscess (36%). In comparisons of complete blood count and index values between the two groups, all parameters had statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.001), except for mean platelet volume ( p  = 0.060). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the rate of change in C-reactive protein levels during hospitalization and the rate of change in the systemic inflammatory response index ( p  = 0.031). Additionally, there were significant positive correlations between the length of hospital stay with the initial C-reactive protein ( p  = 0.003) and mean platelet volume ( p  = 0.005) at admission. Conclusion The correlation between the systemic inflammatory response index and C-reactive protein suggests that this index may serve as a more comprehensive and C-reactive protein-compatible inflammation marker for head and neck abscesses.