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A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History

Background. Despite the improvement in patient-physician communication techniques, sexuality and sexual health continue to be challenging areas for discussion during a clinical encounter. Most people are not prepared to discuss sexual matters openly as it can be perceived as negative or inappropriat...

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Autores principales: Peralta, Diego P., Chang, Aymara Y., Soto-Ruiz, Enrique
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366776/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28386492
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/4765697
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author Peralta, Diego P.
Chang, Aymara Y.
Soto-Ruiz, Enrique
author_facet Peralta, Diego P.
Chang, Aymara Y.
Soto-Ruiz, Enrique
author_sort Peralta, Diego P.
collection PubMed
description Background. Despite the improvement in patient-physician communication techniques, sexuality and sexual health continue to be challenging areas for discussion during a clinical encounter. Most people are not prepared to discuss sexual matters openly as it can be perceived as negative or inappropriate. Consequently, an incomplete health assessment can result in delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Case Report. We present a 33-year-old woman who developed recurrent left breast abscesses. She required multiple incision and drainage procedures in the operating room followed by antimicrobial therapy. Although she always had an initial improvement with this approach, she continued to have recurrences and development of new abscesses in other body areas. The polymicrobial nature of her recurrences prompted an extensive and costly workup to determine the nature of her condition. The cause was finally elucidated when a thorough sexual history was obtained. Poor hygiene practices during her sexual encounters were considered the cause of her recurrent abscesses. After medical therapy and modification of her sexual practices, she has not developed new recurrences for more than two years. Conclusion. Discussions on sexuality and sexual health are important parts of any clinical encounter, yet frequently forgotten or avoided. Becoming aware of their importance would avoid delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
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spelling pubmed-53667762017-04-06 A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History Peralta, Diego P. Chang, Aymara Y. Soto-Ruiz, Enrique Case Rep Infect Dis Case Report Background. Despite the improvement in patient-physician communication techniques, sexuality and sexual health continue to be challenging areas for discussion during a clinical encounter. Most people are not prepared to discuss sexual matters openly as it can be perceived as negative or inappropriate. Consequently, an incomplete health assessment can result in delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Case Report. We present a 33-year-old woman who developed recurrent left breast abscesses. She required multiple incision and drainage procedures in the operating room followed by antimicrobial therapy. Although she always had an initial improvement with this approach, she continued to have recurrences and development of new abscesses in other body areas. The polymicrobial nature of her recurrences prompted an extensive and costly workup to determine the nature of her condition. The cause was finally elucidated when a thorough sexual history was obtained. Poor hygiene practices during her sexual encounters were considered the cause of her recurrent abscesses. After medical therapy and modification of her sexual practices, she has not developed new recurrences for more than two years. Conclusion. Discussions on sexuality and sexual health are important parts of any clinical encounter, yet frequently forgotten or avoided. Becoming aware of their importance would avoid delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Hindawi 2017 2017-03-13 /pmc/articles/PMC5366776/ /pubmed/28386492 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/4765697 Text en Copyright © 2017 Diego P. Peralta et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Peralta, Diego P.
Chang, Aymara Y.
Soto-Ruiz, Enrique
A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title_full A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title_fullStr A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title_full_unstemmed A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title_short A Case of Recurrent Skin Abscesses: A Conundrum Solved after Obtaining a Thorough Sexual History
title_sort case of recurrent skin abscesses: a conundrum solved after obtaining a thorough sexual history
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366776/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28386492
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/4765697
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