Niranjan Sahoo1, Nrushing Charan Dash2, Sasmita Hotta3, Abinash Kumar Panda4, Sanjeeb Kumar Pradhan5, Ravi Teja P6
BACKGROUND
Breast abscess is one of the most frequently encountered cases in the General Surgery OPD among females. This fact can be supported by the fact that 4.6% and 11% of the women in developed and developing countries are affected by breast abscess. Breast abscesses are generally categorised as one of two types: Lactational abscesses and non-lactational abscesses.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study was conducted from December 2015 to January 2017 on female patients visiting the General Surgery OPD of MKCG Medical College and Hospital with presumptive diagnosis of breast abscess. Both lactational and non-lactational females were included in the study. A total of 53 subjects with breast abscess were included in the study. The diagnosis of breast abscess was made from the clinical signs and symptoms of infection. Patients having any benign or malignant disease of breast were excluded from the study.
RESULTS
Of the 53 specimens found positive for bacterial yield, 43 were monomicrobial and only 10 were polymicrobial. Out of the 53 samples collected, only 6 showed anaerobic growth. Most common aerobic Gram positive isolate found in the sample was Staphylococcus aureus followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis. Most common aerobic Gram negative organism isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa found in 14 cases followed by Escherichia coli in 10 cases. Anaerobic bacteria were found only in non-lactational breast abscess. Of the anaerobic isolates, 5 are monomicrobial and 1 was polymicrobial. Aerobic Gram positive isolates showed sensitivity to most of the commonly used antibiotics. All the 4 gram negative isolates were found to be 100% sensitive to Piperacillin Tazobactam combination and Imipenem/Cilastatin combination. Pseudomonas was found to be somewhat resistant to Amikacin, Levofloxacin and Cephalosporins. Anaerobes were found to be fully sensitive to Metronidazole, Clindamycin and Piperacillin-Tazobactam combination.
CONCLUSION
Hence, this study shows that bacteria, aerobic as well as anaerobic, play an important role in pathogenesis of this condition. So antibiotic therapy should be recommended to all the patients undergoing drainage of these abscesses irrespective of the lactational status.
