Recurring Preauricular Pit/Discharge

[mummyto2joys]

My son is 5 yrs old and has had 3 operations on a preauricular pit.  His last operation was when he was 1.5 yrs old.  Now 5 and the scar, which never healed properly and had post-op infections resistant to antibiotics has now started discharging small amounts of pus and irritating him, going red and hurting him when I massage the area to try and get any discharge out.

Discharge is coming from the original pit site as well as the 2 tiny holes left by the stitches from the operations, discharge can vary from quite solidified and white to runny with some colour to it.

We are now booked in for a 4th and final operation (hopefully) this time the paeditrician will remove the underlying cartilage and use methylene blue (not sure if this will work considering the pit has been operated on already).  I suppose I want an ENT opinion or other persons experience.  Will this 4th op work considering cartilage is being removed, what else can we do?  This is a very traumatic issue for us and so very terribly painful to my son.  I live in Australia and hope this site can provide some info to me, I just don't know where else to go for assistance.

[irina20]

Hello, i have been searching for an alternative to surgical removal of the pit as i have had one done less than a month ago and now have an infected sinus again. Could you please give more detail about the Apis Mel your pediatrician suggested? Was it a 6x, 12X or 30X? Any detail would help.

[ToniD1991]

My daughter's pit did not present a problem until this summer at age 16. It became abscessed, and we've been dealing with the infection since May 12th (now September 13th). The GP didn't know much about it, so after several non successful prescriptions of antibiotics and pain medicine, the pain was so severe we went to the hospital. I can't believe how much junk came out of the incision once it was cut. Surgery to remove the pit/tract is scheduled for Dec., but it can't be performed as long as there is infection, which makes the surgery too difficult to be successful. They want her to be infection free so the site is calm for several weeks before surgery. She has had two hospital admissions and 3 drainage tubes, which because of the scar tissue, can not be done again. The next step is a picc line to get rid of the infection. If you have a child where surgery is the option, I recommend it, because I feel once the infection becomes abscessed, it's nearly impossible to get rid of it. Good luck to anyone making this decision and to the individuals dealing with the pain. My other advice is to insist upon general anesthesia if you don't have health risks.

[Borcha]

Hi can you give me the name of this professor in Sydney who successfully operated on your sinus? Many thanks!

[lali98]

Thanks a lot for posting about Apis Mel.
It worked for my Son.

Thanks a lot once again.

[mayalo]

do you have any ENT recommendation?

[mayalo]

What do do mean by inactive?