Pelvic abscess induced by a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from haematogenous spread via the CVP line in...

A 38-year-old female patients was found accidentally to have a positive culture of MRSA from a routine CVP catheter tip culture 1 week after she had complete wound closure. She was recovering from a partial skin thickness burn covering 42 per cent TBSA on the trunk and extremities. Fever and hip pain developed abruptly 1 week later when she was ready for discharge from hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvis disclosed an intramuscular abscess. Open drainage was performed and pus culture yielded a MRSA with the same sensitivity profile as the previous CVP tip culture. Vancomycin 500 mg every 6 h was used for 3 weeks until the drain culture disclosed a negative result, and a follow-up MRI indicated a loss of the abscess space. Follow-up at an outpatient clinic 3 months later showed that the patient remained symptom free. In this patient haematogenous dissemination was the most likely route of pelvic abscess formation. It should be remembered that MRSA infection is not always only a local problem, especially in the immunocompromised condition of burn injury.