Elsevier

Anaerobe

Volume 61, February 2020, 102147
Anaerobe

Case report
Extraintestinal Clostridium difficile infection: Scrotal abscess

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.102147Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Extraintestinal C.difficile infection may occur concurrently with C.difficile colitis.

  • difficile can be a rare causative agent for scrotal abscess.

  • Extraintestinal C.difficile infection may be monomicrobial.

Abstract

Clostridium difficile infection is one of the most common causes of healthcare-associated morbidity and mortality. ExtraintestinalC. difficile infection is extremely rare; though a variety of infections involving different organs have been reported. We report the first case of scrotal abscess due toC. difficile in an 84 year old male following left inguinal herniorrhaphy. Patient underwent surgical drainage of scrotal abscess and was successfully treated with culture directed antibiotic therapy.

Section snippets

Summary

Clostridium difficile infection is one of the most common causes of healthcare-associated morbidity and mortality. Extraintestinal C. difficile infection is extremely rare; though a variety of infections involving different organs have been reported. We report the first case of scrotal abscess due to C. difficile infection in an 84 year old male following left inguinal herniorrhaphy. Patient underwent surgical drainage of scrotal abscess and was successfully treated with culture directed

Discussion and conclusions

Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacillus, has surpassed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as the commonest nosocomial pathogen in the US [7].

Colonization by C. difficile is prevented by barrier properties of fecal microbiota and weakening of this resistance by antimicrobial exposure, gastrointestinal surgery and proton pump inhibitor facilitates infection. Although clindamycin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones are the

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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