How long does it take for the infiltrate to resolve? (English)

Causes and symptoms of infiltration

Treatment of infiltration with folk remedies
Appendiceal infiltrate
Breast infiltration
Infiltration on the face
Post-injection infiltration of the gluteal region

What is infiltration?

Infiltrate is a compaction formed in a tissue area or organ (liver, muscle, subcutaneous tissue, lung), the occurrence of which is caused by the accumulation of elements of cells, blood, and lymph. There are several forms of infiltration. The inflammatory form is formed as a result of the rapid proliferation of tissue cells and is accompanied by the appearance of a significant number of leukocytes and lymphocytes, blood and lymph, which sweat from blood vessels.

The tumor infiltrate consists of cells characteristic of different types of tumors (cancer, fibroids, sarcoma). Its manifestation consists of infiltrated tumor growth. With this formation, a change in the volume of tissue occurs, a change in color, its density and pain increase. The surgical form of infiltration is a compaction that occurs in tissues when they are artificially saturated with an anesthetic, antibiotic, alcohol, and so on.

Causes of infiltration

The reasons why inflammatory infiltrates occur constitute a group with diverse etiological factors. Research revealed that 37% of patients had a traumatic source as the cause of the disease, 23% had an odontogenic infection, and in the remaining patients, the inflammatory infiltrate developed as a result of various infectious processes. This form of the inflammatory process occurs with equal probability in any age category.

Infiltrates of the inflammatory form are often observed in the tissues of the perimaxillary location, in particular in children with the occurrence of pulpitis and periodontitis, which can be confused with reactive processes. The diseases of periadenitis and serous periostitis are also a type of inflammatory infiltrate. To accurately assess the patient’s condition, it is necessary to recognize the non-purulent stage of the process. The group of odontogenic inflammations is of an inflammatory nature, affecting the jaw bones, tissues adjacent to the jaw, and regional lymph nodes.

The causative agents of odontogenic inflammation are considered to be agents representing the microflora of the oral cavity (staphylococci, candida, streptococci and others). Along with them, the cause of the development of a negative process is the resistance of microorganisms, which is determined by specific and nonspecific protective factors, the reactivity of the organism of an immunological nature. Inflammatory infiltrate manifests itself during a contact type infection and through the lymphogenous route of its spread, followed by tissue infiltration.

The cause of the infiltrate may lie in a complicated condition of acute appendicitis. This is an inflammatory type tumor, in its center there is a worm-shaped process and an inflamed condition that occurs in the absence of timely surgical treatment. A type of infiltrate can be post-injection type. It represents a local type of inflammation that develops in the place where the intramuscular injection was given, that is, its cause is improper medical manipulation and violated sanitary rules.

Symptoms of infiltration

The development of the inflammatory infiltrate takes several days. The patient's temperature during this period may be normal or subfebrile (slightly elevated temperature that does not return to normal for a long time). In the affected area, swelling and tissue compaction appear with a clearly visible outline, the area of distribution of which is distributed over one anatomical area or several. Palpation of the affected area may cause severe or mild pain.

It is not possible to determine the presence of fluid (fluctuation for pus, blood) in the resulting cavity. The skin of the lesion is slightly tense, red or slightly hyperemic. In this area, all soft tissues are affected - skin, mucous membrane, subcutaneous fat and muscle tissue, several fasciae with lymph nodes being drawn into the process of infiltration. Infiltrates with traumatic origin are localized in the buccal, maxillofacial region and oral cavity.

The infiltrate, which is based on a complication of acute appendicitis, develops up to 3 days from the onset of the disease. The inflammatory process forms in the lower abdomen on the right side. Its symptoms are a persistent aching pain, a low temperature of up to 37.5°C, there is a possibility of a reverse development of the process, with abscess formation the temperature rises to 39°C, which is accompanied by chills, an abscess is formed and recovery is possible only after the intervention of a surgeon.

Diagnosis of infiltration

Inflammatory infiltrate is diagnosed using a differential approach, which takes into account the factors of the cause and conditions under which the disease occurred, as well as the factor of its duration. The accuracy of the diagnosis is confirmed by the following signs: normal or subfebrile body temperature, clear contours of the infiltrate, sharp pain during palpation, absence of pus in the closed cavity of the inflamed tissue.

Mild distinctive symptoms are: absence of solid intoxication, slight hyperemia of the skin without detecting tension and a shiny effect of the skin. Diagnosis is made difficult by purulent foci, the localization of which is in a space delimited by a group of muscles from the outside. In such cases, the increase in signs of inflammation determines the prognosis of the disease. In doubtful cases, the diagnosis is made based on the results of a puncture from the source of inflammation.

By studying the histological structure of the material obtained from the infiltrate, that is, by conducting a morphological version of the study of the biopsy, it is possible to detect cells typical of the proliferative inflammatory phase in the complete absence or small number of leukocytes of the segmented neutrophil type. This indicator is typical for non-purulent inflammations. In infiltrates, as a rule, yeast and filamentous fungi are found in large clusters. This indicates the presence of dysbiosis.

Appendiceal infiltrate is determined during examination by a doctor. As a rule, special diagnostic methods are not used. In cases of suspected abscess formation, an echographic examination is performed. This method clearly shows the structure of the infiltrate and reveals cystic formations with the clear presence of capsules containing heterogeneous fluid, which will be an indicator of the accumulation of purulent exudate.

Treatment of infiltration

The inflammatory infiltrate is treated with conservative methods that combine anti-inflammatory therapy and physiotherapeutic agents (laser irradiation, bandages using Vishnevsky ointment and alcohol). Suppuration of the infiltrate leads to the appearance of phlegmon, then surgical treatment cannot be avoided. Physiotherapy fulfills the main goal - the rehabilitation of infectious foci to eliminate inflammatory processes.

If there are no purulent manifestations in the infiltration or they have a small quantitative content without significant fluctuation and general reaction, physiotherapeutic methods resolve the infiltrate (anti-inflammatory method), reduce swelling (anti-inflammatory method), and relieve pain (analgesic method). Anti-inflammatory therapy is prescribed for dense infiltrate without purulent melting to increase blood flow in the local area and eliminate stagnation.

When using it, the intensity of the effect is important, but in the presence of purulent microflora, the high-intensity technique will provoke a purulent inflammatory form. Other methods with a thermal effect are prescribed in the absence of provocation on their part, preferably on the fourth day after UHF therapy or SUV irradiation. Electrophoresis of antibiotics plays an antibacterial role, and calcium electrophoresis is prescribed to delineate the source of inflammation.

Appendiceal infiltration can be treated only in a hospital setting. It includes therapy with antibacterial drugs, diet and limiting physical activity. Within 14 days, the inflammatory process resolves and recovery occurs. In order to prevent such attacks, after 90 days it is recommended to perform an operation, as a result of which the appendix is removed.

Abscess formation of the infiltrate (formation of a cavity around the appendix filled with pus) requires surgery to open the abscess; in this case, the appendix is preserved. Final recovery will occur after removal of the appendix six months after the abscess was opened.

Expert editor: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | Doctor of Medical Sciences general practitioner

Education: Moscow Medical Institute named after. I. M. Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".

22 reasons to love bananas. What happens if you eat them every day?

Infiltration after surgery is one of the most common complications after surgery. It can develop after any operation - if you had your appendix removed, a hernia removed, or even just given an injection.

Therefore, it is important to monitor your condition very carefully after surgery. It is quite simple to cure such a complication if it is diagnosed in time. But if you delay it, it can develop into an abscess, and this is already fraught with a breakthrough of the abscess and blood poisoning.

What it is?

The term itself is a merger of two Latin words: in - “in” and filtratus - “strained”. Doctors call this word a pathological process when particles of cells (including blood cells), the blood itself, and lymph accumulate inside tissues or any organ. Outwardly, it looks like a dense formation, but simply a tumor.

There are 2 main forms of this phenomenon - inflammatory (this is usually a complication after surgery) and tumor. Inside the second formation is not innocent blood and lymph, but tumor cells, and very often cancer cells. Sometimes doctors call infiltration the area on the body where an anesthetic, antibiotic or other substances are injected during treatment. This type is called “surgical”.

The inflammatory process can begin even before surgery. Particularly often diagnosed is appendiceal infiltrate, which develops almost in parallel with inflammation of the appendix. It occurs even more often than a complication after appendicitis surgery. Another “popular” option is a tumor in the mouth of children, the cause is fibrous pulpitis.

Varieties

Inflammatory infiltrate is the main type of this pathology, which often appears after surgery. There are several types of such inflammation, depending on which cells are most numerous inside the tumor.

Purulent (polymorphonuclear leukocytes collected inside).
Hemorrhagic (red blood cells).
Round cell, or lymphoid (lymphoid cells).
Histiocytic-plasma cell (plasma elements and histiocytes inside).

Inflammation of any nature can develop in several directions - either resolve over time (within 1-2 months), or turn into an unsightly scar, or develop into an abscess.

Scientists consider infiltration of a postoperative suture to be a special type of inflammatory disease. This disease is especially insidious - it can “pop up” a week or two after the operation, and after 2 years. The second option happens, for example, after a cesarean section, and the risk that the inflammation will develop into an abscess is quite high.

Causes

No one is immune from the appearance of purulent, hemorrhagic and other formations after surgery. The complication occurs in both small children and adult patients, after banal appendicitis and after surgery to remove the uterus (paracervical and other tumors).

Experts name 3 main reasons for this phenomenon - trauma, odontogenic infections (in the oral cavity) and other infectious processes. If you see a doctor because a postoperative suture is inflamed, there are a number of other reasons:

the wound became infected;
postoperative drainage was performed incorrectly (usually in overweight patients);
due to the fault of the surgeon, the layer of subcutaneous fatty tissue was damaged and a hematoma appeared;
suture material has high tissue reactivity.

If the scar becomes inflamed only a few months or years after surgical procedures, the suture material is to blame. This pathology is called ligature (ligature is a dressing thread).

Pathology can also be provoked by a patient’s tendency to allergies, weak immunity, chronic infections, congenital diseases, etc.

Symptoms

Postoperative complication does not develop immediately - usually on the 4-6th day after hour X (surgical intervention). Sometimes later - after one and a half to two weeks. The main signs of incipient inflammation in a wound are:

low-grade fever (increases by only a few notches, but it is impossible to bring it down);
when pressing on the inflamed area, pain is felt;
if you press very hard, a small pit appears, which gradually straightens;
the skin in the affected area swells and turns red.

If the tumor occurs after surgery to remove an inguinal hernia, other symptoms may also appear. About a pathological accumulation of cells in the abdominal cavity they will say:

aching pain in the peritoneum;
intestinal problems (constipation);
hyperemia (strong blood flow to sore spots).

With hyperemia, swelling occurs and boils pop up, the heartbeat quickens, and the patient suffers from headaches.

What is post-injection infiltrate?

Infiltration after an injection is one of the most common complications after an injection, along with hematomas. It looks like a small dense lump in the place where the needle with the medicine was inserted. The predisposition to such a mini-complication is usually individual: for some, a lump appears on the skin after each injection, while others have never encountered such a problem in their entire life.

The following reasons can provoke such a reaction of the body to a banal injection:

the nurse performed antiseptic treatment poorly;
the syringe needle is too short or blunt;
the injection site is chosen incorrectly;
injections are made constantly in the same place;
the medicine is administered too quickly.

Such a sore can be cured with regular physiotherapy, an iodine mesh or compresses with diluted dimexide. Traditional methods will also help: compresses from cabbage leaves, aloe, burdock. For greater effectiveness, you can lubricate the lump with honey before applying the compress.

Diagnostics

Diagnosing such postoperative pathology is usually not difficult. When making a diagnosis, the doctor relies primarily on the symptoms: temperature (what and how long it lasts), the nature and intensity of the pain, etc.

Most often, a tumor is determined by palpation - it is a dense formation with uneven and fuzzy edges, which responds with pain when palpated. But if surgical manipulations were performed on the abdominal cavity, then the seal may be hidden deep inside. And during a finger examination, the doctor simply will not find it.

In this case, more informative diagnostic methods come to the rescue - ultrasound and computed tomography.

Another mandatory diagnostic procedure is a biopsy. Tissue analysis will help to understand the nature of inflammation, find out which cells have accumulated inside, and determine whether any of them are malignant. This will allow you to find out the cause of the problem and correctly draw up a treatment plan.

Treatment

The main goal in the treatment of postoperative infiltration is to relieve inflammation and prevent the development of an abscess. To do this, you need to restore blood flow to the sore spot, relieve swelling and eliminate pain. First of all, conservative therapy is used:

Treatment with antibiotics (if the infection is caused by bacteria).
Symptomatic therapy.
Local hypothermia (artificial decrease in body temperature).
Physiotherapy.
Bed rest.

Effective procedures are considered to be UV irradiation of the wound, laser therapy, mud therapy, etc. The only contraindication for physiotherapy is purulent inflammation. In this case, heating and other procedures will only accelerate the spread of infection and may cause an abscess.

When the first signs of an abscess appear, a minimally invasive intervention is first used - drainage of the affected area (under ultrasound control). In the most difficult cases, the abscess is opened in the usual way, using laparoscopy or laparotomy.

Treatment of postoperative sutures with complications is also traditionally carried out using conservative methods: antibiotics, novocaine blockade, physiotherapy. If the tumor has not resolved, the suture is opened, cleaned and sutured again.

Infiltrate after surgery can form in a patient of any age and health condition. By itself, this tumor usually does not cause any harm, but it can serve as the initial stage of an abscess - severe purulent inflammation. Another danger is that sometimes the pathology develops several years after a visit to the operating room, when the scar becomes inflamed. Therefore, it is necessary to know all the signs of such a disease and, at the slightest suspicion, consult a doctor. This will help avoid new complications and additional surgical interventions.

The article for the website “Recipes for Health” was prepared by Nadezhda Zhukova.

Every person has undergone surgery at least once in their life. Surgery is a conscious necessity that relieves pain and discomfort, and often saves lives. Is it any wonder that complex operations are sometimes accompanied by various kinds of complications, the most common of which is postoperative infiltration. What is this condition and why is it dangerous? How to identify infiltration and how to treat it? We will answer all your questions.

What is postoperative infiltration

The term infiltrate comes from two words “in” - “in” and “filtratus” - “strained”. Already from the name you can understand that infiltration is a painful compaction that occurs at the site of surgery due to the accumulation of elements of blood cells and lymph. The cause of the accumulation of biological fluids is a violation of the integrity of tissues during surgery and subsequent infectious infection due to a decrease in tissue resistance to infections.

Forms of postoperative infiltration

Doctors usually divide infiltration into two forms - inflammatory and tumor. In the first case, lymph and blood particles accumulate in the tissues. This is the most common complication after surgery. However, another form is much more dangerous - tumor, in which not harmless blood and lymph accumulate in the tissues, but actual tumor cells, often malignant. However, sometimes infiltration refers to swelling that occurs at the site of administration of an antibiotic, anesthetic or other drug in liquid form. This infiltration is usually called post-injection or “surgical”.

Causes of postoperative infiltration

The complication in question can develop in any person, regardless of gender and age, for example, in a child after a banal tooth extraction, in an adult man who has had his appendix removed, or in a woman who has had genital surgery. The main reasons for this complication include:

infection that has entered the wound;
injuries to the operated area;
damage to the subcutaneous tissue layer during surgery;
improper installation of drainage (in overweight patients);
rejection of suture tissue by body tissues (if the inflammatory process appears several months after the operation, the suture material is to blame).

Other reasons for the appearance of infiltration include allergic reactions of the body, too weakened immunity, as well as chronic or congenital diseases that the person being operated on suffered from.

Why is infiltration dangerous?

Inflammatory postoperative infiltrate has become almost a common occurrence, because it appears in every 5th operated person. Perhaps this is why to many ordinary people such a complication seems frivolous and harmless. However, this impression is deceptive. With early detection and timely measures taken, it is indeed very simple to eliminate the problem, but if you waste time and do not consult a doctor, the infiltrate can develop into an abscess, which can result in a breakthrough of the abscess and blood poisoning. And this is an extremely dangerous condition that threatens the patient’s life! What can we say about the tumor form of the infiltrate, which can even threaten the patient with cancer. Thus, any symptoms of a developing infiltrate should be immediately reported to the attending physician, who will take all necessary measures to eliminate this dangerous condition and prevent complications.

Symptoms of postoperative infiltration

As a rule, complications after surgery do not occur immediately, on about 5-6 days, and sometimes even after one and a half to two weeks. In this case, a person may notice the following signs of a developing inflammatory process:

a swelling appears at the site of infiltration, which turns red and attracts attention with mild itching;
a low temperature appears (lasts literally for several days, but it is impossible to bring it down);
pressing on the inflamed area is accompanied by pain;
with strong pressure, a noticeable dimple is formed at the point of pressure, which gradually straightens.

Very often, postoperative infiltration occurs after surgery to remove an inguinal hernia. In this case, the following unpleasant symptoms signal a developing complication:

digestive problems appear (usually constipation);
suffer from aching pain in the abdominal area;
the skin around the scar becomes red, inflamed and swollen;
Boils may appear on the inflamed area of skin.

In addition, if a postoperative infiltrate occurs at the site of removal of the inguinal hernia, the patient may complain of frequent headaches and rapid heartbeat.

Post-injection infiltrate

Separately, it is worth mentioning the infiltrate that occurs as a result of the injection, which externally resembles a small lump that appears at the site of drug administration. The reason for this condition is often the lack of professionalism of the medical staff. That is, post-injection infiltrate can occur:

with improper antiseptic treatment before injection;
when administering the medicine constantly in the same place;
when using a needle that is too short or too blunt;
if the injection site is chosen incorrectly;
if the medicine is administered too quickly.

Finally, we cannot exclude the fact that some people are predisposed to such mini-complications. In some people, infiltration occurs after each insertion of a needle under the skin, while other people never encounter such a condition in their entire lives.

Diagnosis of postoperative infiltrate

It will not be difficult for an experienced doctor to identify the infiltrate. As a rule, after examining a swelling with fuzzy and uneven edges, the doctor asks the patient about the intensity of pain and the presence of low-grade fever. However, there are cases when the infiltrate is hidden deep in the tissues, and it is not possible to detect it during a visual examination. In this case, if the patient complains of fever and aching pain, he should be prepared for informative diagnostic methods - ultrasound or computed tomography.

In addition, when an infiltrate is detected, doctors are required to perform another unpleasant but mandatory procedure, namely, a biopsy, since it is important to identify the nature of the cells accumulated in the compaction and exclude a malignant tumor. Only after this the specialist prescribes treatment measures.

Treatment of postoperative infiltrate

The main task of a doctor faced with an infiltrate is to relieve the inflammatory process and prevent the development of an abscess. In this regard, it is necessary to relieve swelling, restore blood flow in the affected area and eliminate pain.

If the infection is caused by bacteria, specialists prescribe antibiotics, and in addition to them, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. In some cases, physiotherapeutic procedures and local hypothermia (artificial temperature reduction) cannot be avoided. Laser therapy, ultraviolet irradiation of the wound, and even mud therapy are well suited to eliminate infiltration. Such procedures are contraindicated only in one case, when a purulent process has begun to develop in the compaction. In such a situation, heating will only accelerate the spread of infection and lead to an abscess.

As soon as the first signs of an abscess appear, doctors drain the exudate or simply open the abscess using laparotomy or laparoscopy. If the postoperative suture itself is inflamed, the doctors' actions are exactly the same - treatment with antibiotics, the use of painkillers and physiotherapy. If such measures do not help, the suture is opened, cleaned of pus, disinfected and sewn back up.

Treatment of infiltration at home

Of course, it is difficult to cure infiltration with traditional medicine recipes alone. And the risk of triggering the disease by causing blood poisoning should also stop the patient from self-medicating. However, as a complement to primary therapy, alternative medicine shows its best side. The main thing is not to forget to consult a doctor before using this or that product.

To eliminate the infiltration that appeared due to an unsuccessful injection by a doctor, you can use regular white cabbage. Simply cut a fresh cabbage leaf with a knife and place it on the resulting lump, securing it on top with polyethylene and a bandage. The next morning you will notice that the size of the swelling has become smaller. Apply this compress at night until the swelling disappears completely.

An alternative way to solve the problem is a cottage cheese compress. To prepare it, just hold the curd mass in a water bath for about 5 minutes, then mold the curd into a cake and place it on the swelling, securing it with gauze on top.

Honey will be an excellent remedy for resolving infiltrate. Just mix a spoonful of liquid honey with an egg yolk, and add a piece of butter to this mixture. Having molded the ingredients into a cake, apply it to the inflamed area overnight, securing it as in previous recipes.

In case of infiltration due to mastitis, watermelon pulp will come to the rescue. After heating the red pulp of the watermelon in a water bath, apply it to your chest, covering it with cellophane and a scarf on top. You just have to remember that mastitis is a dangerous disease, which means that such therapy must be coordinated with a mammologist.

Infiltration can appear in any person. In itself, such a tumor is not harmful, but without treatment it can cause severe purulent inflammation and lead to unpleasant consequences that will threaten health and even life. In addition, the insidiousness of the infiltrate is that it may not develop immediately, but months or even years after surgery, manifesting itself as inflammation of the scar. That is why it is important to know the signs of this dangerous complication and not delay in seeing a doctor if you suspect you have an infiltrate.
Good health to you!

How long does it take for the infiltrate to resolve?