Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine

Introduction: A thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) is a congenital malformation in the neck. Surgical management is often recommended due to risk of recurrent infections and rare possibility of malignancy.

Case Report: Herein, we describe the case of an adult presenting with tender neck mass and fever. She had a history of previous surgical excision of her TGDC as a child. On evaluation she was found to have a recurrent TGDC complicated by acute infection via computed tomography imaging.

Conclusion: In patients who have had previous surgical intervention to remove a TGDC, recurrence with infection should remain a diagnostic consideration.