Crusted Scabies in the Burned Patient

Abstract

The objectives of this study were 1) to describe a case of crusted scabies (CS) in a burned patient, which was primarily undiagnosed and led to a nosocomial outbreak in the burn unit; 2) to analyze and discuss the difficulties in diagnosing and treating this subset of patients with burn injury; and 3) to design a treatment strategy for future patients. Case analysis and literature review were performed. The index patient had undiagnosed crusted scabies (sive Scabies norvegica) with the ensuing mite hyperinfestation when admitted to the department with minor acute dermal burns. Conservative healing and autograft healing were impaired because of the condition. Successful treatment of the burns was only accomplished secondarily to scabicide treatment. An outbreak of scabies among staff members indirectly led to diagnosis. CS is ubiquitous, and diagnosis may be difficult. This is the first report of a burned patient with CS in the English language literature. CS is also highly contagious and may lead to a nosocomial outbreak. Furthermore, CS seems to have a detrimental impact on the burned patient's course of treatment. A scabicide treatment is necessary to guarantee successful treatment of the burns.

Localized scabies crustose over the engrafted skin: Report of two cases

“…2 Report of crusted scabies in a burn patient hampering autograft healing has been reported. 3 Instances of localized crusted scabies have been limited to a few anecdotal case reports and immunocompromised individuals. [4][5][6][7] Whereas, present cases were otherwise healthy and immunocompetent.…”

Cutaneous Disorders of the Breast

“…The typical lesions are burrows, which appear as slightly raised brownish tortuous lesions. Crusted scabies is a rare and severely debilitating form of the disease, characterized by the infestation of up to millions of mites and the development of hyperkeratotic skin crusts (Costa et al 2012;Berg and Alsbjørn 2011) (Fig. 63).…”