Minimally invasive surgery for descending necrotizing mediastinitis

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) is a lethal disease with a high mortality rate, and occurs as a complication of odontogenical or cervical infections. The choice of treatment is still controversial and ranges from a cervical approach alone to cervical approach with clamshell incision. Until now, there have been only a few cases operated on via thoracoscopy in the literature. In this study, we present a 21 year-old man who was referred with high fever and neck swelling after the removal of an infected right lower second molar tooth, and diagnosed as DNM, and succesfully treated with cervical and unilateral videothoracoscopic approach.