Outbreak of Rapidly Growing Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Among Patients Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery in the Dominican Republic

The Price of Beauty: A Literature Review on Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Infection After Cosmetic Procedures

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection of the skin and soft tissues is a complication of cosmetic procedures. The incidence of cutaneous NTM infections has increased significantly as aesthetic operations have become more commonplace. With the rise of cosmetic tourism, the geographic expansion of NTM infections is a major concern. Due to the unique pathogenesis of NTM infections, diagnosis and treatment remain significant challenges for clinicians. Clinical management relies on a combination of antibiotic therapy with drug susceptibility testing and appropriate surgical debridement. Some new drugs, photodynamic therapy, and bacteriophage therapy have been developed in recent years, and may improve the aesthetic outcomes. This review summarizes the cosmetic procedures prone to NTM infections in recent years and their clinical features. We propose a 2-stage treatment procedure, including a hospitalization phase and a follow-up phase. We aim to increase the alertness of clinicians to NTM infections for timely detection and treatment.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial skin and soft tissue infections in the Northern Territory, Australia, 1989-2021

BACKGROUND

A previous review demonstrated that the majority of NTM infections in the Northern Territory (NT) are pulmonary in nature [1], however skin and soft tissue (SST) are likely the next most common sites of disease. The current epidemiology of NTM SST infections across the NT is not known. We aimed to establish the current and historical incidence rates, and the organisms involved.

METHODS

All NTM cases reported to the Centre for Disease Control in Darwin from 1989-2021 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

226 NTM notifications were reviewed. 73 (32%) cases were SST infections. The incidence of SST cases increased over the study period. Female cases were more common (p=0·002). Disease occurred across a wide age range (1-85 years). Only 16% of cases occurred in Aboriginal individuals which may reflect immunological factors requiring further investigation. Many cases had no clear provocation, but localised skin trauma was the most common risk factor. The most common organism identified was M. fortuitum (41%). Diagnosis was often delayed, with a median time to diagnosis of 69 days (IQR=31-149). Most cases (60%) underwent surgical intervention with adjunctive anti-mycobacterial medical therapy.

CONCLUSION

NTM SST incidence rates increased over the study period. NTM SST infections are a rare but important differential diagnosis for non-healing cutaneous wounds.

Infective complications of cosmetic tourism: A systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Cosmetic tourism has increased dramatically over the years. We performed a systematic review of the literature to find reports of infective complications following cosmetic surgery, focusing on epidemiology, clinical, and surgical management. In addition, we identified cosmetic tourism trends in terms of mobilization from the country of origin and travel destinations.

METHODS

A search on PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science was performed between March and August 2022. The search was not restricted based on study date. Only English manuscripts were assessed. Reviews, short communications, letters, and correspondences were excluded after reviewing their references for potentially relevant studies. Articles related to non-cosmetic surgeries were also excluded from the study.

RESULTS

We identified 152 articles, of which 31 were duplicates and 47 were excluded based on title/abstract assessment. Three non-English manuscripts, 13 reviews, 12 letters to the editor, and 10 articles that did not feature clinical cases were also rejected. Thirty-six articles were included for analysis. We found 370 patients with infective complications following cosmetic surgery. The severity of complications was stratified according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Most reports were from the United States (56.5%), followed by Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Travel destinations included the Dominican Republic (34.3%), Turkey, and Colombia.

CONCLUSION

Infective complications commonly occurred after abdominoplasties in patients who underwent cosmetic surgeries in Latin America or Asia. Most infective complications required management with surgical procedures that involved the administration of local, regional, or general anesthesia. Gluteal augmentations were the fourth most common cosmetic procedures; however, they were associated with the highest number of severe cases, which required intensive care treatment.

Vertebral osteomyelitis due to Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. massiliense with paravertebral abscess: A case report and review

The incidence of vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) caused by non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) without immunocompetence is extremely rare. Herein, we reported on a case of VO caused by NTM. A 38-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with persisting low back and leg pain which had lasted for a year. Before coming to our hospital, the patient was treated with antibiotics and iliopsoas muscle drainage. The biopsy confirmed the presence of a NTM, Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. massiliense. Several tests were conducted which showed the infection had progressively increased, such as vertebral endplate destruction on plain radiography, computed tomography scan, and epidural and paraspinal muscle abscesses on magnetic resonance imaging. The patient underwent radical debridement, anterior intervertebral fusion with bone graft, and posterior instrumentation with antibiotic administration. A year later, the patient's low back and leg pain was relieved without any analgetic. VO due to NTM is rare but can be treated with multimodal therapy.

Infections in patients with adverse reactions to the use of unknown modeling substances for soft tissue enhancement in Cali, Colombia

The infiltration of foreign materials not approved for medical purposes or of modeling substances used in soft tissue to modify the anatomical appearance for aesthetic purposes represents a serious health problem. These procedures lead to the development of delayed complications, including infections. The objective of this study was to characterize infections in patients with adverse reactions to the use of modeling substances in Cali, Colombia. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was used to determine the frequency of bacterial and fungal infections associated with complications from and adverse reactions to the use of modeling substances in 113 patients. We identified microorganisms in 22 patients and a frequency of 68.1% monomicrobial infections and 31.8% polymicrobial infections. The microorganisms identified in our study included Bacillus cereus, Mycobacterium fortuitum, and Pseudomonas stutzeri, among other microorganisms. The presence of adverse effects derived from the use of illegal modeling substances has been demonstrated; among these effects, infections occur with high frequency and place the health of the patient at risk and increase problems in health care.

Complications of Aesthetic Surgical Tourism Treated in the USA: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Medical tourism has grown increasingly popular in the past few decades. Cosmetic surgery centers have developed in vacation locales, offering procedures at lower prices. However, surgeons and patients alike are often unprepared for management of complications after patients return to the USA. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of US cosmetic surgery tourism patients and the complications faced by US healthcare providers.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed using the Web of Science, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, and PubMed databases up to February 2022; included articles were full-text, English language, and reported complications of patients receiving postoperative care in the USA after cosmetic surgery abroad. Two independent reviewers performed screening for article eligibility with a 3rd for conflict resolution. Patient demographics, procedure characteristics, and outcomes were extracted and aggregated.

RESULTS

Twenty studies were included, describing 214 patients. Most patients were female (98.1%, n = 210), middle-aged, and Hispanic. The most common destination country was the Dominican Republic (82.7%, n = 177) and the most common surgical procedure was abdominoplasty (35.7%, n = 114). Complications were mainly infectious (50.9%, n = 112) and required prolonged treatment periods often greater than two months, with high rates of hospitalization (36.8%) and surgical management (51.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

Cosmetic surgery tourism is a growing industry with adverse implications for the US healthcare system and patients themselves. This review aims to serve as a reference to prepare plastic surgeons for the scope of complications associated with cosmetic tourism and improve counseling to better prepare patients for the financial and health risks.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

A case series of infectious complications in medical tourists requiring hospital admission or outpatient home parenteral therapy

BACKGROUND

Travelling for medical care is increasing, and this medical tourism (MT) may have complications, notably infectious diseases (ID). We sought to identify MT-related infections (MTRIs) in a large Canadian health region and estimate resulting costs.

METHODS

Retrospective and prospective capture of post-MT cases requiring hospital admission or outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy was completed by canvassing ID physicians practising in Calgary, Alberta, from January 2017 to July 2019. Cost estimates for management were made with the Canadian Institute for Health Information's (CIHI's) patient cost estimator database tool applied to estimated rates of Canadians engaging in MT from a 2017 Fraser Institute report.

RESULTS

We identified 12 cases of MT-related infectious syndromes. Eight had microbial etiologies identified. MTs were young (mean 40.3 [SD 12.2] y) and female (n = 11) and pursued surgical treatment (n = 11). Destination countries and surgical procedures varied but were largely cosmetic (n = 5) and orthopaedic (n = 3). Duration to organism identification (mean 5.3 wk) and treatment courses (mean 19 wk) appeared lengthy. CIHI cost estimates for management of relevant infectious complications of our cases ranged from $6,288 to $20,741, with total cost for cases with matching codes (n = 8) totalling $94,290.

CONCLUSIONS

In our series of MTRIs, etiologic organisms often found in Canadian-performed post-procedural infections were identified, and prolonged treatment durations were noted. Young women pursuing cosmetic surgery may be a population to target with public health measures to reduce the incidence of MTRIs and burden of disease.

Medical Tourism in Aesthetic Breast Surgery: A Systematic Review

Introduction

Medical tourism is expanding on a global basis, with patients seeking cosmetic surgery in countries abroad. Little information is known regarding the risks and outcomes of cosmetic tourism, in particular, for aesthetic breast surgery. The majority of the literature involves retrospective case series with no defined comparator. We aimed to amalgamate the published data to date to ascertain the risks involved and the outcomes of cosmetic tourism for aesthetic breast surgery on a global basis.

Methods

A systematic review of PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and OVID Medline was conducted using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines. Keywords such as “medical tourism”, “cosmetic tourism”, “tourism”, “tourist”, “surgery”, “breast” and “outcomes” were used. Seven hundred and seventy-one titles were screened, and 86 abstracts were reviewed leaving 35 full texts. Twenty-four of these met the inclusion criteria and were used to extract data for this systematic review.

Results

One hundred and seventy-one patients partook in cosmetic tourism for aesthetic breast surgery. Forty-nine percent of patients had an implant-based procedure. Other procedures included: mastopexy (n=4), bilateral breast reduction (n=11) and silicone injections (n=2). Two-hundred and twenty-two complications were recorded, common complications included: wound infection in 39% (n=67), breast abscess/ collection in 12% (n=21), wound dehiscence in 12% (n= 20) and ruptured implant in 8% (n=13). Clavien–Dindo classification of the complications includes 88 (51%) IIIb complications with 103 returns to theatre, 2 class IV complications (ICU stay) and one class V death of a patient. Explantation occurred in 39% (n=32) of implant-based augmentation patients.

Conclusions

Aesthetic breast surgery tourism is popular within the cosmetic tourism industry. However, with infective complications (39%) and return to theatre rates (51%) significantly higher than expected, it is clear that having these procedures abroad significantly increases the risks involved. The high complication rate not only impacts individual patients, but also the home country healthcare systems. Professional bodies for cosmetic surgery in each country must highlight and educate patients how to lower this risk if they do choose to have cosmetic surgery abroad. In this current era of an intra-pandemic world where health care is already stretched, the burden from cosmetic tourism complications must be minimised.

Level of Evidence III

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

Mycobacterium agri Skin Infection in a Previously Healthy Patient: A Case Study

Nontuberculous mycobacteria infections present mostly pulmonary characteristics. However, the incidence of skin and soft tissue infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria has increased in part due to the increased popularity of cosmetic and plastic surgery. Here, we report a case of Mycobacterium agri infection. The patient underwent a one-year course of anti-infection therapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a previously healthy patient presenting a skin and soft tissue infection caused by Mycobacterium agri. Clinical personnel should be aware of possible causes of persistent skin and soft tissue infection after cosmetic and plastic surgery.

Infectious complications related to medical tourism

BACKGROUND

Medical tourism has been increasing dramatically globally, with people travelling from developed countries to low-income or middle-income countries, often to avoid high costs or long delays associated with seeking healthcare in their countries of origin. The current review summarizes healthcare-related infections associated with medical tourism, focusing on cosmetic surgery and organ transplantation.

METHODS

A systematic MEDLINE and PubMed search from January 2010 to December 2019 yielded 80 relevant articles, including 49 articles on medical tourism-related infections focusing on cosmetic surgery and organ transplantation, which were included in this reviews.

RESULTS

The literature reveals specific types of cross-border, healthcare-related infections depending on medical intervention. Destinations include low-income countries such as countries of Asia and the Indian subcontinent, middle-income countries including Central and South America, and high-income countries such as the United States and Europe. In terms of type of infections, in 36 (68%) and 15 (28.3%) studies, wound and blood-borne infections were documented, respectively, while in 21 studies (58.3%) non-tuberculous mycobacteria were isolated, including Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium chelonae, Mycobacterium senegalense and Mycobacterium fortuitum. The choices of medical tourists could have significant consequences for them and their home countries, including infectious complications and importation of pathogens, particularly antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, with public health implications.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need for public health strategies in order to prevent morbidity and mortality as well as future management and education of patients engaging in medical tourism.

Surgical cure of clarithromycin resistant Mycobacterium chelonae breast implant infection: A case report and review of the literature

Clusters of patients who obtain cosmetic surgeries abroad have developed surgical site infections due to rapid growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). These are usually treated with a combination of surgery and months of anti-mycobacterial therapy, but poor outcomes, including permanent scarring are common. We present a case of a 36-year-old female who developed a clarithromycin-resistant M. chelonae (CRMC) infection after undergoing breast augmentation in the Dominican Republic. She underwent debridement and explant of her silicone implants, but due to a series of complications including discordant antimicrobial susceptibility testing profiles, GI side effects, and then pregnancy, she was unable to receive typical multidrug anti-mycobacterial therapy after surgery. She received close clinical follow up and demonstrated full recovery without any evidence of recurrence of infection at 9 months of follow up. We searched the literature for cases of NTM surgical site infection after breast surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of confirmed NTM breast implant infection being cured with surgery alone, and only the second report of clarithromycin resistant M. chelonae in a patient without disseminated infection or pre-exposure to macrolides. The increasing prevalence of drug resistant NTM infections is an emerging concern for clinicians treating patients with complications related to medical tourism.

State-of-the-art treatment strategies for nontuberculous mycobacteria infections

INTRODUCTION

Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) are a group of organisms whose importance in medicine seems to be increasing in recent times. The increasing number of patients susceptible to these diseases make it necessary to expand our knowledge of therapeutic options and to explore future possibilities for the development of a therapeutic arsenal.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, the authors provide a brief introduction about the present importance of NTM and describe the present recommendations of the available guidelines for their treatment. They include a description of the future options for the management of these patients, especially focusing on new antibiotics. The authors also look at possibilities for future therapeutic options, such as antibiofilm strategies.

EXPERT OPINION

No actual changes have been made to the current recommendations for the management of most NTM infections (except perhaps the availability of nebulized amikacin). However, it is also true that we have increased the number of available antibiotic treatment options with good in vitro activity against NTM. The use of these drugs in selected cases could increase the therapeutic possibilities. However, some problems are still present, such as the knowledge of the actual meaning of a NTM isolate, and will probably be a key part of future research.

Infections and outbreaks of nontuberculous mycobacteria in hospital settings

Purpose of review

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial [NTM] infections in the hospital setting are a complex and often challenging entity. The goal of this review is to discuss diagnostic and treatment strategies for established as well as emerging nosocomial NTM infections.

Recent findings

NTM outbreaks have been documented in a variety of hospital settings. Contamination of medical devices or aqueous solutions is often implicated in the spread of infection. More recently, the slow grower M. chimaera has been reported in the setting of contaminated heater-cooler devices used for cardiopulmonary bypass and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. In addition, increases in medical tourism for cosmetic surgery have led to outbreaks of rapidly growing mycobacteria.

Summary

Diagnosis and treatment of nosocomial NTM pose many challenges for the clinician. Surgical resection or debridement as well as combination antimycobacterial therapy are a mainstay in therapeutic management. Strict infection control and prevention practices are critical to the identification and cessation of outbreaks.