Breast Gangrene

A prospective study of 10 patients who had breast gangrene over a period of 6 years were analyzedAll the patients in the study group were female. Total of 10 patients were encountered who had breast gangrene. Six patients presented with breast gangrene on the right breast whereas four had on left breast. Out of 10 patients, three had breast abscess after teeth bite followed by gangrene, one had iatrogenic trauma by needle aspiration of erythematous area of breast under septic conditions. Four had history of application of belladonna on cutaneous breast abscess and had then gangrene. All were lactating female. Amongst the rest two were elderly, one of which was a diabetic who had gangrene of breast and had no application of belladonna. All except one had debridement under cover of broad spectrum antibiotics. Three patients had grafting to cover the raw area.Breast gangrene occurs rarely. Etiology is variable and mutifactorial. Teeth bite while lactation and the iatrogenic trauma by needle aspiration of breast abscess under unsterlised conditions could be causative. Uncontrolled diabetes can be one more causative factor for the breast gangrene. Belladonna application as a topical agent could be inciting factor. Sometimes gangrene of breast can be idiopathic. Treatment is antibiotics and debridement.Gangrene of breast is rare to see [1]. There are only few cases of breast gangrene reported in the literature. This is regarded as cosmetic blemish and is agony for the female. Gangrene of breast can be idiopathic or occurs after some secondary to some causative agent. Occurrence of breast gangrene in the diabetes, after application of a topical agent or of idiopathic cause is scarcely reported in literature. Its medico-surgical management is an emergency [2]. Treatment involves debridement, antibiotics and sometimes mastectomy. The aim was to study clinical presentation and management of patients with breast gangrene.A study of 10 female patients who presented with the bre