The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases has just received treatment for patient N.T.Q (78 years old, residing in Bac Ninh) in a condition of inflammation of the scrotum in the face, forehead and scalp area, accompanied by severe sepsis caused by yellow plaque bacteria. The damaged areas are swollen, red, with pus, and show signs of necrosis.
According to the family, about 20 days before being hospitalized, Ms. Q appeared with clusters of water on the skin with red burning in her face and head, suspected to be neuralgia. Although he was treated at a lower-level hospital for a week, his condition did not improve, and the damage spread more and more, so he was transferred to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Dr. Nguyen Hong Long - Deputy Head of the General Infection Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said: The patient was hospitalized in a state of severe infection after suffering from shingles due to not being detected and treated early, leading to inflammation of the scalp and face. A CT scan of the skull shows a suspicion of osteoporosis.
Notably, the patient has a history of bronchial emphysema, had a stroke in the left hemisphere, is being treated for high blood pressure and often uses corticosteroids on purpose - a factor that weakens the immune system, increasing the risk of infection.
After a week of intensive treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, the infection was controlled. However, the scalp area was severely necrosed, forcing surgery to remove dead tissue and install a negative pressure absorption (VAC) system to clean up the damage.
Master, Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Linh - Department of Aesthetic Surgery, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said: " scalp neuralgia is a rare disease, but in this case, due to the patient's age and immunodeficiency, the golden plateau bacteria have penetrated deep into the subcutaneous tissue layer, causing the extravagation of the entire human papaya and the scalp fat layer. The scalp defect area is about 7x10cm, but the fat- weighing necrosis area is almost half the circumference of the scalp, accompanied by a lot of pus and moles".
After dialysis of all necrotic tissue and negative pressure suction for 12 weeks, when the inflammation is controlled, the doctors will perform a scalp estimate to restore damage.
