5/16/2023 0 Comments Infected helix piercingDespite timely treatment, including antibiotic therapy, drainage, and debridement, an unsightly deformity (“cauliflower ear”) may result. Abscess formation and loss of cartilage are potential complications that often require surgical intervention. An avascular cartilage (which is normally nourished by the perichondrium), may then become necrotic. The gun applies shear forces to the perichondrium, which may slip off the cartilage. The use of guns for piercing cartilage presents an additional risk of perichondritis. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are the most common bacteria. Although the various parts of the auricle do not carry different risks for complications, the cartilage of the ear tends to become infected more often than the lobule after piercing. Although other parts of the body have become subject to this new ritual of body piercing, the ear remains a most common site, with piercing of the ear cartilage (“high” ear piercing) gaining more popularity. The patient was treated with ciprofloxacin by mouth for a period of one week by then the infection was entirely resolved.īody piercing has become a widespread phenomenon in the last decade. The lobule (which does not contain cartilage) remained intact, which indicated that the infection was perichondritis and not simply cellulitis (fig 1). Two thirds of the upper part of her auricle was swollen, red, and tender. A 20 year old woman presented to the ear, nose, and throat clinic with auricular perichondritis two days after piercing the helix of her left ear with the aid of a piercing gun.
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