Mycobacterium abscessus Infection After Facial Injection With Autologous Fat: A Case Report

We report a case of Mycobacterium abscessus infection in a 29-year-old woman after facial injection with autologous fat. Nineteen months previously, she received a facial surgery of autologous fat injection with the fat harvested from her inner thigh. On examination, she had multiple painful and fluctuant abscesses associated with local pyrexia in her bilateral temporal and lower orbital regions. A B ultrasound revealed multiple fat liquefaction in her bilateral temporal and lower orbital regions. The acid-fast bacilli culture and polymerase chain reaction sequencing confirmed M. abscessus infection. She was treated with moxifloxacin, clarithromycin, and ethambutol for 12 months, and finally the symptoms subsided. To avoid infection after fat graft, aseptic technique as well as standard operation of the fat harvest and process should be strictly enforced. In cases of persistent infection, or invalid cases treated with conventional antibiotic therapy, nontuberculous mycobacteria should be suspected, and a polymerase chain reaction sequencing as well as a drug sensitivity test should be carried out.