adenitis /ad′ənī″tis/ , an inflammation of a lymph node causing swelling, enlargement, and/or pain. Acute adenitis of the cervical lymph nodes may accompany a sore throat and stiff neck, simulating mumps if severe. It is most often related to an oral, a pharyngeal, or an ear infection. Scarlet fever may cause acute suppurative cervical adenitis. Inflammation of the lymph nodes of the mesenteric portion of the peritoneum often produces pain and other symptoms similar to those of appendicitis, but characteristically mesenteric adenitis is preceded by respiratory infection, the pain is less localized and less constant than in appendicitis, and the pain does not increase in severity. Generalized adenitis is a secondary symptom of syphilis. Therapy requires treatment of the primary infection by the administration of antimicrobial agents, application of warm compresses, and occasionally, incision and drainage. Also called lymphadenitis. Compare acinitis.
