Characteristics of Children Referred for Drainage of Sub-cutaneous Soft Tissue Infections - International Journal of Clinical Medicine

IJCM > Vol.4 No.7, July 2013

Characteristics of Children Referred for Drainage of Sub-cutaneous Soft Tissue Infections ()

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Download as PDF (Size: 731KB) PP. 24-27

DOI: 10.4236/ijcm.2013.47A2006 3,639 Downloads 5,201 Views Citations

Author(s)

Kristin L. Long, Leah Gilligan, Kasey M. Cox, John M. Draus

Affiliation(s)

Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Surgery, University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky, USA..

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Severe skin and soft tissue infections in children are a common cause of hospital admission. Surgical drainage is often required for definitive therapy. Our aim was to review common characteristics of children requiring surgical incision and drainage (I&D) for subcutaneous abscesses. Methods: IRB approval was obtained for a retrospective chart review of children requiring I&D of subcutaneous abscesses between July 2006 and June 2011. Data points included patient demographics, abscess location, surgical procedure, microbiology cultures, and hospital length of stay. Results: Surgical I&D were performed on 1042 children, and 781 patients (75%) were admitted to the surgical service. The average age was 3.4 years. 605 patients (58%) were female. 637 abscesses (61%) were located in the groin/buttock/perineum area. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was identified in 70% of the culture specimens. The average length of stay was 2.8 days. The rate of recidivism was 10.9%. Conclusions: Soft tissue infections requiring hospital admission and I&D are common in the pediatric population. The vast majority of these are due to MRSA infections. Infections requiring drainage most frequently occurred in the diaper area of girls less than 3 years old. A significant number of children have recurrent skin infections and represent an important patient subpopulation.

KEYWORDS

Soft Tissue Infections; Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureus; Incision and Drainage; Children

Share and Cite:

K. Long, L. Gilligan, K. Cox and J. Draus, "Characteristics of Children Referred for Drainage of Sub-cutaneous Soft Tissue Infections," International Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol. 4 No. 7B, 2013, pp. 24-27. doi: 10.4236/ijcm.2013.47A2006.

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