Aim: To determine the contribution of ultrasound to the etiological diagnosis of neck masses in children.

Introduction: Neck masses are common in paediatric patients. Their etiology is multiple. Ultrasound is the main examination for their management.

Patients and methods: This was a 12-month retrospective descriptive study from January 2013 to December 2013, carried out at the CHUJRA Medical Imaging Department, including all children aged 0 to 15 referred for cervical ultrasound. All files with incomplete information or normal results were excluded from this study.

Results: Boys were more affected (65.33%), with a predominance of children aged over 2 years (74.67%). The most common clinical manifestation was cervical swelling (64%). The masses were of latero-cervical location in 93.05% of cases and of heterogeneous tissue echostructure in 76.39%. Lesions were color-coded for vascularity in 80.56% of cases. Ganglion chains were the most affected structures, followed by soft tissue and salivary glands. Inflammatory lesions, including lymphadenopathy, were most frequently encountered, followed by malignant tumor lesions such as lymphomas.