News & Events

~ Kauvery Hospital’s team of specialists successfully managed a case of Pyomyositis in a 10-year-old child who presented with severe and sudden life-threatening complications

Chennai, 2nd March 2020: Kauvery Hospital, a popular leading tertiary and multi-specialty hospital in Chennai, successfully treated a complicated case of pyomyositis in a 10-year-old patient through a collaborative effort by doctors of Kauvery Hospital across departments of pediatrics, orthopedics, critical care, infectious diseases and plastic surgery.

Parents of the 10-year-old aspiring dancer came all the way from Guwahati, Assam to Kauvery Hospital along with their daughter, who developed complications following treatment of her ankle sprain with an above knee plaster cast at their native town. She presented to us 7 days after application of the cast with high grade fever, excruciating pain and swelling of her right leg.

Her presentation was suggestive of a deep vein thrombosis. On day 2 of admission, the young patient, developed breathing difficulty which led her to being admitted to ICU for pediatric critical care. She developed certain skin changes that suggested a possible infection in her right leg, which was both limb and life threatening. In the course of ICU stay, she developed multi organ dysfunction with shock, respiratory failure, acute kidney injury and sepsis requiring her to be on life support and high-end antibiotics.

Our team of doctors performed exploratory surgical procedures through which the doctors came to the conclusion that the child is suffering from severe pyomyositis which required removal of  the tissues around the knee, as the tissues in the muscle around the bones were necrosed, which was very rare as none of the superficial tissues were damaged.

The team consisting of plastic surgeons, pediatrician, intensivists and infectious diseases treated her in cohesion with vacuum therapy, intensive care and many radical surgeries that included removal of necrotic tissues and skin grafting to save her limb and life. This was a truly complicated medical case that challenged the most dedicated and skilled professionals. Throughout her stay in the hospital, the child never lost her smile on her face and always greeted the doctors as “Namaste doctor” and the nurses as “Namaste Didi”.  She became the mascot of the ICU with her playful actions and a bright smile.

Currently, the young patient has gone back to continue her dancing and Kauvery Hospital is proud to have kept the little girl’s dream of dancing alive.

The team of doctors include Dr Lakshmi Prashanth, Consultant Pediatrician, Dr V B Narayanamurthy, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Sathish Manivel, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Arul Mozhi Mangai, Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dr Vijayalakshmi B, Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases and Dr Sridhar N, Senior Consultant Intensivist.

Speaking on the achievement of the doctors, Dr Iyappan Ponnuswamy, Medical Director Kauvery Hospital, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to see the smile back on the young and aspiring dancer’s face. At the same time, I congratulate the team of doctors and paramedics at Kauvery Hospital, who brought in all their experience and expertise to the table to bring the smile back. The success of this case gives hope for many who might be suffering from debilitating condition.”

Pyomyositis is a bacterial infection that occurs in the adult population, elderly and immune deficient individuals. (75% occurs in immune compromised) It is very uncommon to happen in the young population, especially in a healthy immune competent young girl.