Cutaneous Mycobacterium abscessus infection following hair transplant

Abstract

A 28-year-old man presented with a 10-day history of scalp nodules. He had undergone hair transplantation 2 months previously. Incision and drainage of one of the nodules yielded gelatinous material, which was sent for microscopy and culture, including low-temperature culture. After 2 weeks of incubation, culture of the nodule yielded acid- and alcohol-fast bacilli, which were identified as Mycobacterium abscessus, a rapidly growing, nontuberculous mycobacterium, which has been reported to cause cutaneous, soft tissue and respiratory infections following trauma, surgery or injection with nonsterile needles. A high index of suspicion is therefore needed in patients who present with cutaneous infections after cosmetic dermatological procedures, including hair transplantation.

Mycobacterium abscessus cutaneous infection secondary to botulinum toxin injection: A report of 2 cases

“…Although there is no standard treatment for cutaneous M abscessus infection, macrolide antibiotics, such as clarithromycin combined with other antibiotics according to drug sensitivity testing, are recommended to be the initial therapy for at least 4 months 5 . Additional surgical intervention may be necessary with incision and drainage in some refractory cases 3 , 5 …”

“…The incidence of cutaneous M abscessus infection has increased in the past decade. Most reported cases were associated with trauma, surgery, or cosmetic procedures, including autologous fat injection, mesotherapy, tattooing, and even hair transplantation 2 , 3 . We report 2 cases of M abscessus infection associated with facial injection of botulinum toxin (BTX) in patients who were immunocompetent.…”

Subcutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium abscessus following botulinum toxin injections: A case report and literature review

“…A total of 24 cases across 18 studies of cutaneous NTM infection after cosmetic injections reported from 2013 to 2023 were identified in the search. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The characteristics of the included studies are summarized in Table 1. The majority of the patients were female (23 out of 24 patients), with ages ranging from 28 to 56 years old.…”

Case Report: Multiple Scalp Abscesses due to Mycobacterium abscessus Infection Following Triamcinolone Injection in an Immunocompetent Person

“…A similar case scenario after a hair transplant was reported in Pakistan 7 years ago. 4 But, such issues may be more common than reported, as there is neither availability of Mycobacterium species identifications facility in most developing tropical countries nor clinical suspicion of NTM.…”