Why does a person who underwent treatment for TB, pneumonia, and pleural effusion have a non-healing catheter wound?

Question

Hello doctor,

My 50-year-old uncle had TB, pneumonia, and pleural effusion for four years. After complete treatment of antibiotics and pleural drainage, everything was fine. However, the catheter wound does not heal and fluid keeps oozing out for four years. Every time he has a fever or excessive fluid coming out, the doctor prescribes Chymotrypsin for anti-inflammation. Is his condition normal? He has taken pleural X-ray and pleural CT scan. He is planning to take curcumin supplements for his inflammatory problem, but not right now.

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thank you for your query.

It looks like your uncle has a chronic infection. In this case, the most recommendable thing to do is a wound culture to identify which microorganism is responsible for this cyclic oozing. A general surgeon can perform this biopsy which is a simple non-invasive procedure. Once we isolate the microorganism, your uncle must take the proper antibiotics or TB (tuberculosis) medications if it persists. We need to know the extension of the wound and infection with a contrast CT (computed tomography) scan.

I hope this has helped you.

Thank you.