Correspondence
S. Lal
E- 11 Doctor’s colony Medical college campus Rewa,
Madhya Pradesh, India.
Phone - 09301113252
E-mail: slaldr@gmail.com

Abscesses of the thigh are rare and, although they can be easily diagnosed, their cause is often obscure. We are presenting here, a case of thigh abscess which resulted from appendicular and colonic perforation. Subcutaneous emphysema of the thigh may be a late manifestation of this process, and it often heralds a poor prognosis because of the associated fulminant sepsis. The presentation and the clinical course of such a patient have been summarized. The underlying pathological abnormality is usually a retroperitoneal perforation of a colorectal neoplasm or a diverticular disease, whereas its origin from the small bowel or the appendix is distinctly less common. The routes of extension of the infection into the thigh can be either direct, through the subcutaneous tissues or the lumbar triangle or through naturally occurring defects in the abdominal wall. The overall mortality as quoted in the literature is high (53 percent), but the recognition of an abdominal source and an appropriate treatment, combined with the local drainage of the thigh abscess, appears to improve the survival.

[ FULL TEXT ]   |   [ PDF ]