A complicated case of pyomyositis in a 10-year-old patient was successfully treated by a team of doctors from Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. Pyomyositis is a bacterial infection that occurs in the adult population, elderly and immune deficient individuals. Although, it is very uncommon to happen in the young population, especially in a healthy immune-competent young girl.
Doctors from pediatrics, orthopedics, critical care, infectious diseases and plastic surgery departments treated her through a collaborative effort with vacuum therapy, intensive care and many radical surgeries that included removal of necrotic tissues and skin grafting to save her limb and life. The team of doctors included Dr Lakshmi Prashanth, Consultant Pediatrician, Dr VB Narayanamurthy, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Sathish Manivel, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Arul Mozhi Mangai, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Vijayalakshmi B, Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases and Dr Sridhar N, Senior Consultant Intensivist.
The 10-year-old aspiring dancer had come all the way from Guwahati, Assam, with her parents, upon developing complications following treatment of her ankle sprain with an above-knee plaster, cast at her native town. She was presented to the doctors at Kauvery 7 days after the application of the cast with high grade fever, excruciating pain and swelling of her right leg.
On day 2 of admission, the young patient, developed breathing difficulty which led her to being admitted to ICU for pediatric critical care. She developed certain skin changes that suggested a possible infection in her right leg, which was both limb and life-threatening. In the course of ICU stay, she developed multi-organ dysfunction with shock, respiratory failure, acute kidney injury and sepsis requiring her to be on life support and high-end antibiotics.
The team of doctors performed exploratory surgical procedures through which the doctors came to the conclusion that the child was suffering from severe pyomyositis which required removal of the tissues around the knee. With the successful completion of the surgical procedures, the young patient has recovered and has now gone back to continuing her dancing.