Early postoperative infection in patient with IgM deficiency

Selective IgM deficiency is a rare immunological disorder, with patients presenting with recurrent infections and allergic manifestations. However, the association with early postoperative infection has not been widely reported in the literature. We describe a rare case of a patient who had an early wound infection 1 day after excision of a Merkel cell carcinoma from his right buttock and was later found to have decreased IgM levels. Selective IgM deficiency should therefore be considered in patients presenting with recurrent infections or in patients who have previously undergone surgery and subsequently developed early infection postoperatively. In this subset of patients, extra precautions may need to be taken pre- and postoperatively to reduce the risk of developing a postoperative infection.