Postauricular swelling secondary to salmonella extradural abscess in a toddler: a near miss condition

Abstract

Postauricular swelling is usually encountered in an emergency setting in otorhinolaryngology, resulting from complication of acute or chronic suppurative otitis media. Besides that, postauricular swelling may occur secondary to various other conditions including infectious disease, tumour, vascular malformation, granulomatous condition and even trauma. Children less than 2 years old are prone to fall and up to 10% sustain traumatic brain injury without any obvious signs of neurological deficit. We describe a rare case of a postauricular swelling in a toddler which turned out to be salmonella extradural abscess from an infected traumatic haematoma. The importance of high clinical suspicion especially in a child with a history of fall cannot be emphasised more because a missed brain abscess could lead to potentially life-threatening problems. We would like to highlight that meticulous history taking along with prompt assessment and intervention is prudent for a better prognosis and recovery.

A Rare Case of Salmonella Osteomyelitis in Immunocompetent Toddler Without Risk Factors

“…In one report, a two-year-old presented with vertebral osteomyelitis due to Salmonella Enteritidis, but this patient had sickle cell disease [ 6 ]. Another report describes a 17-month-old with nontyphoidal salmonella who had three days of diarrheal illness and recent head trauma followed by extradural abscess formation, but our patient did not have any notable trauma to increase the risk for abscess and osteomyelitis [ 7 ]. Other reports have described central nervous system salmonella abscess in a 12-month-old and 26-month-old following neurosurgical procedures [ 8 , 9 ].…”