Doxycycline sclerotherapy in paediatric branchial cleft sinus

Abstract

Branchial cleft anomalies are the second most common head and neck lesion in children after thyroglossal cyst. They are congenital lesions resulting from improper involution of the branchial apparatus. The most common treatment of choice is surgical excision, which gives a good outcome. Nevertheless, there has been recent literature exploring sclerosant therapy as a viable alternative to nonsurgical treatment. We present the case of a seven-year-old girl with first branchial cleft cyst who presented with recurrent serous discharge persisting for four years and was successfully treated with sclerotherapy injection with doxycycline.