My 16 month old daughter has a lump in her neck, right on the midline. It's about the size of a garbanzo bean and it's painless. The Pediatric ENT specialist we saw said that it could either be a thyroglossal duct cyst, which is a common congenital defect, or a dermoid cyst. In either case, he recommends immediate removal. Does anyone have any experience with this condition or know of any good pediatric ENT surgeons who do these type of excision procedures often? I'm looking for a surgeon in the Southern OC location that has good experience with thyroglossal duct cyst removal.
Dr Barretto. i know he is at CHOC in Orange. i am not sure if he is also at Mission.
I am 40 years old and last year had a thyroglossal cyst removed. My lump was about the size of a golf ball, not really painful, just a bit uncomfortable. I did try antibiotics, didn't take it away. It did go down a bit on its own, and that's when the doc said it is best to take it out because it would make for an easier surgery. She did say it would, more than likely, eventually come back. I was in the hospital one day, and recovery went well. But you are dealing with a 16-month-old, so procedures and recovery are probably different. I don't know of a pediatric ENT, but I wanted to let you know I had one as well and my experience with it.
Good luck!
Hi, I don't know much about this but my niece's son who at 14 months just had the same problem...a cyst on the back of his neck. He was in the hospital for 5 days while they tried getting it to go down with antibiotics. At one point the Doctor's were arguing over whether to operate and take it out or just see if the antibiotics did the job. The antibiotics did the job but now my niece worries it will come back and most likely it will. You are lucky that they are doing the removal. As an adult, I also have cyst on the back of my neck, they come and go but I have had one removed through surgery and now have one on the other side of my neck...so I know what a pain they can be. Do research and find the best Surgeon you can because not all do a good job as in my case. Good luck and God Bless You.
We have an excellent pediatric ENT. Although he is not in Southern OC he is at Loma Linda Children's Hospital. His name is Dr. Rowe. Let me know if you are interested in further information and our experience.
My daughter didn't have the type of cyst you're asking about, but she did have a dermoid cyst on her neck. I found it when she was younger than a year, but they waited until she was a year to remove it. It was a bit traumatic for us, seeing her go under anesthesia (twice -- once for the MRI, once for the procedure). But her doctor was great, as was the whole team we worked with. We saw Dr. Supance at Head and Neck Associates of Orange County. They did the procedure over at the Children's Hopspital at Mission Hospital. I have a few friends who have also seen Dr. Supance for ear tubes, tonsils, etc. all with nothing but good things to say. Hope this helps -- good luck!
how did the surgery go? My 1 yr old son has been diagnosed with a thyroglossal duct cyst too. Scares me, but how is your son now?
