ISSN: 2155-9554
Xuexin Wang, Feng Zhu, Hongtai Tang, Shichu Xiao, Xiaoyan Hu*
Carbuncle is an infection of the hair follicle(s) that extends into the surrounding skin and deep underlying subcutaneous tissue. We reported a case of giant carbuncle in the nape complicated by Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) and sepsis. A 72-year-old male patient, who had a history of diabetes for more than 30 years and suffered from systemic sepsis due to a giant carbuncle in the nape for 2 weeks and complicated DKA, was admitted to our hospital on December 9th, 2020. The patient significantly improved after active management with blood sugar control, antishock therapy, systemic anti-infection, local excision of infected foci, and autologous meshed split-thickness skin grafts to repair the wound. The patient recovered and discharged after 40 days. For carbuncles, we believe that the most important therapy is to drain pus sufficiently or excise lesions, which is the first step in saving a patient’s life before systematic treatment.