Traumatic Fat Necrosis Complicated with a High Platelet Count and Anaemia in a Nigerian Neonate

Abstract

Traumatic fat necrosis is a rare, temporary and self-limiting condition. It is believed to be caused by panniculitis, or inflammatory change in fat tissues following trauma, cold or ischaemic insult. We report the case of a baby who presented with firm nodular bean seed sized swellings on both sides of the cheek and back, noticed 26 days after a difficult vaginal delivery. A platelet count of 461,000 cell/mm3 was recorded in the patient. The traumatic and haematological aberrations resolved spontaneously, after few weeks. We report the case to increase the awareness of health providers on the occurrence of such complications and to emphasise the need to promptly detect and manage them.

Keywords

• neonatal
• panniculitis
• thrombocytosis