Mastitis and breast abscess in newborns and infants

Abstract

Introduction: Mastitis and abscess of the newborn breast are serious infections. The objective of our study was to describe the epidemiological and therapeutic aspects of these infections in our context. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study from January 2017 to December 2019. We included all children aged ≤2 months admitted for mastitis or breast abscess. The variables studied were epidemiological and therapeutic. Results: We collected 34 files, i.e., 11.3 cases/year. The sex ratio was 0.5. The mean age was 16.3 ± 6.6 days. The mean time to the consultation was 3.7 ± 2.4 days. The parents had undertaken a massage in 79.4% of cases. It was mastitis in 12 cases and abscess in 21 cases. Treatment was surgical in 26 cases. Conclusion: This affection is frequent with a female predominance. Its management must be early. The proscription of breast massage would reduce its frequency.

Keywords

• abscess
• breast
• massage
• newborn
• staphylococcus aureus