Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in nasal vestibular abscess

Pediatric nasal tip abscesses

Nasal tip abscesses in children are uncommon. We report on 7 children/teenagers who presented with an advanced nasal tip abscess that required intravenous antibiotics and surgical drainage, despite adequate pre-admission antibiotic therapy with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid or cephalosporins. Cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus, that was clindamycin-resistant but TMP/SMX sensitive.

Intranasal Drainage for Pediatric Nasal Abscesses

Nasal abscesses of the tip or soft tissues are uncommon in children. We describe an endonasal surgical approach for nasal abscesses based on our experience with 3 children at our tertiary care, academic children's hospital. All presented with significant nasal pain out of proportion to the physical examination findings, along with edema, induration, and some intermittent bleeding and discharge of sebaceous and/or keratinous debris. Parenteral antibiotics were administered for an initial period of at least 24 hours in all cases, without any significant improvement in the patients' symptoms. Computed tomography (CT) with intravenous contrast was diagnostic in all cases. Symptomatic relief was achieved immediately postoperatively. No child required a second drainage procedure, and all children had an uneventful recovery.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal abscesses in a lower socioeconomic urban population

BACKGROUND

To determine the prevalence of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) nasal abscesses in a lower socioeconomic status urban population over a 5-year period.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of 29 consecutive patients with nasal abscess cultures performed in the otolaryngology clinic from 2007 to 2012.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine cases of nasal abscesses were identified. All cultures grew S. aureus; 34.5% were MSSA and 65.5% were CA-MRSA. Comparing CA-MRSA and MSSA, there was no statistically significant increase in prevalence of CA-MRSA over 5 years; and there was no statistical difference comparing gender, year, or age. There was a high rate of erythromycin resistance (15/19) and a low rate of sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (2/19) and clindamycin (1/19) resistance in the CA-MRSA cases.

CONCLUSION

In this population, the proportion of CA-MRSA nasal abscesses is nearly twice that of MSSA nasal abscesses. The overall prevalence of CA-MRSA appears to be stable over the past 5 years. This may represent a stabilization of CA-MRSA colonization in this community. An awareness of the high proportion of CA-MRSA will allow for the appropriate selection of antibiotic therapy.