An abscess is a collection of pus collected in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g. splinters or bullet wounds). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body.

The organisms or foreign materials that gain access to a part of tissue kill the local cells, release toxins and trigger an inflammatory response by drawing huge amounts of white blood cells to the area and increasing the regional blood flow. So, pus is a collection of local dead tissue cells, white blood cells, infecting organisms or foreign material and toxins released by both organisms and blood cells. The final structure of the abscess is an abscess wall that is formed by the adjacent healthy cells in an attempt to build a barrier around the pus that limits the infected material from neighboring structures.

Manifestations

---

The cardinal symptoms and signs of any kind of inflammatory process are redness, heat, swelling, and pain. Abscesses may occur in any kind of solid tissue but most frequently on skin surface (where they may be superficial pustules (boils) or deep skin abscesses), in the lungs, brain, kidneys and tonsils. Major complications are spreading of the abscess material to adjacent or remote tissues and extensive regional tissue death (gangrene). Abscesses in most parts of the body rarely heal themselves, so prompt medical attention is indicated at the first suspicion of an abscess.

More on [ Abscess ]

Epidural Abscess - Twitter Search

Brain or Epidural Abscess http://www.doctornutritionist.com/articles/brain-or-epidural-abscess.html
drnutritionist (Doctor Nutritionist) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:11:01 -0000
Brain or Epidural Abscess http://www.doctornutritionist.com/articles/brain-or-epidural-abscess.html

Subscribe to Epidural_Abscess RSS feed