SONOGRAPHIC DETECTION OF A STITCH ABSCESS

A 28-year-old man with a ruptured right Achilles tendon underwent prim ary end-to-end suture immediately after injury. Painful swelling devel oped 6 months later, and a lump with discharge from a sinus was observ ed during physical assessment. Sonographic examination with a 10-MHz l inear-array transducer demonstrated a hypoechoic mass, 8 x 6 mm, withi n which were 2 markedly echogenic dots. A stitch abscess was strongly suspected and was confirmed surgically. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, In c.