Tuesday, September 1, 2015

A 45 Year Old Diabetic Man Presents With Leg Swelling

A 45 year-old obese male with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia presents to clinic complaining that his left leg is red. He denies constitutional symptoms or pain. His vital signs are within normal limits. He has a warm leg with circumferential erythema extending from the ankle to the mid-calf. He has 2+ pitting edema bilaterally  There are no open sores.

His complete blood count with differential is within normal limits. Doppler studies fail to reveal venous thromboses. Patient was prescribed 7 days of oral antibiotics and sent home. The patient returns after 3 days with no improvement in his symptoms.

What is the diagnosis and why did he not respond to antibiotic treatment?


Answer: This patient is a classic case of Stasis dermatitis which is often misdiagnosed and treated as cellulitis. Stasis dermatitis is a chronic dermatitis of the lower extremities that results from chronic edema. It can start relatively abruptly and be unilateral or bilateral.
As there is no underlying infection patient did not respond to the antibiotic treatment. The goal of therapy is directed at resolution of the edema. Patients must lose weight and employ a strict routine of compression hose and leg elevation. In the short term, topical corticosteroids can improve
the inflammation.

Case Discussion:
Stasis Dermatitis is the inflammation of the skin of the lower legs caused by chronic venous insufficiency.

Clinical features; Patients may have following signs and symptoms:

  • Swelling of the leg
  • Pain and tenderness in the calf.
  • Redness and brownish discoloration of the skin of the calf and ankle. 
  • Ulceration of the skin.
  • Sometimes open sores and ulcers.
Diagnosis: is usually clinical. Doppler studies may be done to rule out venous thrombosis.

Treatment: Patients are instructed to :
  • avoid prolonged standing and sitting
  • prop up the legs when sitting
  • wear compression stockings. 
  • topical steroid creams and ointments may help reduce the inflammation. 
  • If an ulcer develops it should be treated with dressings and antibiotics if needed. 


3 comments:

  1. Hello, my name is Betty. i was diagnosed of HIV virus 4 years back. Before then, i was dating this Derrick guy. we had something great going on. Our love life only lasted for 8 months. the sixth and seven month of our relationship, i began feeling very weak every now and then. But i never suspected anything until I kept on experiencing different symptoms like having sore throats, constant headache, body weakness e.t.c. I decided to go for a medical check up. I was tested HIV positive. when the doctor broke the news to me, it was as if my whole world had crumbled. it dawned on me then that Derrick has been lying to me. i was very mad to an extent i almost committed suicide. But there was nothing i could do, other than weep and weep. ever since then, i have been spending heavily on medications, going from one medical clinic or the other so I can look healthy. Though since i was a kid, i love herbs a lot. i take herbal tea with grandma while growing so i am quite familiar with herbs. early last year, i was on the internet and on a particular health blog, to check for herbal medication as alternative. I saw many comments and read many testimonies. Until i came across a particular testimony on how Dr.ugo cured a patient from herpes simplex virus using pure natural herbs. i reached out to the doctor because I also was thinking Herpes had no cure. I told him about my HIV status.He encouraged me not to panic that he will help me get my deliverance. he prepared some herbs and sent them to me. The herbs were in four 70ml bottles and I took them morning and night. i used as he directed, and in less than three weeks, i started having appetite to eat plenty of food and i gained back my strength. the fourth week,I consumed all the herbal meds. He encouraged me to go for a test which i did. This time, the result was negative. I quickly contacted the doctor and informed him of the news. I immediately asked him to prepare for Derrick too. He did and sent it. Today, me and Derrick are HIV free. All thanks goes to God Almighty for healing us through Dr.Ugo. if you are having any kind of sickness at all, Dr.Ugo is the right person to talk to and i assure you, you will be glad you did. His email: ugoherbalhome@gmail.com you can also write him on WhatsApp +2348104990619.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am very happy today to share this amazing testimony on how Dr. idahosa the herbal doctor was able to cure me from my HIV Virus with his herbal medicine. I have been a HIV patient for almost 8 months now and have tried different methods of treatment to ensure that I am cured of this terrible disease, but none worked for me, so I had to leave everything to God to handle as I was a Christian who had faith that one day God would intervene in my life, yet I felt so sad and desperate as I was losing almost everything due to my illness, A few months ago while I was surfing the internet I saw different recommendation about Dr idahosa on how he have been using his herbal Medicine to treat and cure people, these people advice we contact Dr. idahosa for any problem that would help immediately, I contacted Dr idahosa and I told him how I got his contact and also about my disease, after some time Dr. idahosa told me to have faith that he would prepare for me a medication of herbal herbs, he told me I would take this medicine for a few weeks and also asked my home for home address so as possible for him to submit the drug for me, so my good friends after all the process and everything Dr idahosa actually sent me the medicine, I took it as I was directed by Dr. idahosa, after a few weeks passed, while on Dr.idahosa medication I began to experience changes in my body, I had to call my doctor at the hospital for some blood test after test my hospital doctor told me that I was no longer with the Hiv virus and my blood is pretty good, I can not even believe this, Friends well today i am Hiv Free and i want everyone to know that there is a cure for Hiv for those who will contact Dr idahosa after reading my testimony, you can kindly contact Dr. idahosa in (dridahosasolutioncenter@gmail.com) or call his WhatssaAp number +2348134261542, God bless you all ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mental Health Counseling and Psychology Online Program - As a graduate, once you complete this course or program, you can work in a number of health care settings to study how people's psychological and emotional states influence their physical health. plant based food for diabetic

    ReplyDelete