TITLE:
Incidence, Presentation and Management of Bartholin’s Gland Cysts/Abscesses: A Four-Year Review in Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, South-East Nigeria
AUTHORS:
O. B. Anozie, C. U. O. Esike, R. O. Anozie, E. Mamah, J. N. Eze, R. C. Onoh
KEYWORDS:
Bartholin’s Cyst, Abscesses, Abakaliki, Nigeria, Incidence, Presentation and Marsupialization
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.6 No.5,
April
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background: The Bartholin’s gland cysts and abscesses are one of the most
common vulva cyst or abscesses in gynaecological practice. Symptomatic cases
give significant discomfort to sufferers and have a negative impact on their
quality of life. Objective: To investigate the incidence, pattern of
presentation and management of Barthholin’s gland cysts and abscesses in the
Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Methodology:
This was a four-year retrospective study of cases of Bartholin’s gland cysts
and abscesses in FETHA. We studied all cases of Bartholin’s gland cysts and
abscesses that were managed at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki from 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2015. Results: During the study
period, there were 1015 gynaecological surgical cases of which 18 were for
Bartholin’s gland cysts or abscess giving an incidence of 1.78%. The mean age
of the patients was 28.8 ± 5.6 years with 61% of the patients within the age
range of 21 to 30 years. The commonest risk factor that was found for the occurrence
of Bartholin’s gland cyst or abscess was previous history of the disease in 14
(77.8%) followed by previous history of sexually transmitted diseases 8
(44.4%). Pain was the commonest presenting symptom in 14 (77.8%) of cases. The
left vulva was the commonest site of disease as noted in 15 (83.3%) of
patients. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were the commonest
isolates on swabs with 16 (88.9%) and 14 (77.8%) prevalence respectively. The
disease presented commonly in form of abscess as observed in 10 (55.6%) of
patients. All the patients had Marsupialization as the modality of treatment. Conclusion:
Symptomatic Bartholin’s gland cyst and abscess cause significant morbidity for
the sufferers and decreased quality of life. Accurate diagnosis and treatment
is advocated to prevent chronicity and complications. Although options of
treatment abound, Marsupialization remains the mainstay of treatment in low
resource setting like ours.