Differential diagnosis of breast abscess, these methods must be understood

Breast abscess is a common breast disease, but because women have many breast diseases, the symptoms of breast abscess may be somewhat similar to those of other diseases, so people often make wrong judgments. Therefore, today we will teach you the correct differential diagnosis method.

1. Breast abscess may be mastitis

1. Patients with early-stage mastitis experience swollen and painful breasts, tender lumps in the affected area, red and hot skin on the surface, and systemic symptoms such as fever.

2. If breast inflammation continues to develop, the above symptoms will worsen. At this time, the pain will be pulsating, and the patient may have chills, high fever, and rapid pulse. The axillary lymph nodes on the affected side of mastitis are often swollen and tender.

3. The white blood cell count increases significantly and the nuclei shift to the left. The inflammatory mass often softens within a few days to form an abscess. Superficial abscesses can be felt and fluctuate, while deep abscesses require puncture to be confirmed.

4. In addition to slowly breaking outward, deep abscesses can also penetrate deep into the loose tissue between the breast and pectoral muscle, forming a retromammary abscess.

5. Breast abscess can be unilocular, or it can expand to multilocular due to failure to drain in time; or it can penetrate the skin from the outside, or the abscess can rupture into the milk duct and form nipple pus discharge; the same breast can also have several lesions at the same time and form multiple abscesses.

6. Severe acute mastitis can cause large-scale necrosis of breast tissue and even lead to sepsis.

2. Symptoms

As the infection multiplies, a red, tender lump will form in the breast, and the axillary glands and supraclavicular lymph nodes on the affected breast will also become tender and feverish. Women who breastfeed their babies are more likely to develop this disease.

3. Do's and Don'ts

1. Mothers who breastfeed their children should keep their nipples clean and dry between breastfeeding sessions, prevent nipples from being irritated by clothing, and prevent children from "biting" their nipples. This will reduce the incidence of breast abscesses.

2. Do not breastfeed from the breast with the lump until the infection is gone. Gently massage the infected breast to express the milk and prevent breast engorgement.