Lip synechiae: A rare complication of azithromycin-associated Stevens-Johnson syndrome

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a severe form of erythema multiforme, is a self-limiting acute inflammatory disease of multifactorial origin, but can also present as a chronic recurrent lesion. It causes a whole plethora of lesions, mostly mucocutaneous. It is a dermatologic emergency that occurs with a spectrum of severity and can result in severe morbidity and mortality. Lip adhesion is an unusual complication of healing in the lesions of SJS, for which only a few cases have been reported till date which not only causes esthetic morbidity but also impairs the proper functioning of the patient. The importance of this lesion also lies in its multifactorial and varied origin, this being the first case to report azithromycin as a causative drug, leading to SJS associated with lip adhesion. In this paper, we present a case report of SJS with lip adhesion, azithromycin being the causative drug, which was treated surgically with chalinoplasty. Along with it, the clinical features, its pathogenesis, the preventive measures, and the treatment modalities for the same including conservative as well as surgical have also been extensively discussed with a review of the existing English literature to date.