Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2014 Nov;15(7):819-21.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2014.7.21862. Epub 2014 Aug 14.

Ultrasound-guided diagnosis and aspiration of subdeltoid abscess from heroin injection

Amanda Clauson  1 , Tom Mailhot  1 , Mikaela Lynn Chilstrom  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Ultrasound-guided diagnosis and aspiration of subdeltoid abscess from heroin injection

Amanda Clauson et al. West J Emerg Med. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

A 49-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with shoulder pain after intramuscular injection of heroin into his right deltoid muscle. Point-of-care (POC) ultrasound identified a subdeltoid abscess, and ultrasound-guided aspiration of the fluid collection was performed. The patient was admitted and improved on antibiotics and made a complete recovery. POC ultrasound and ultrasound-guided aspiration can assist in the diagnosis and treatment of deep musculoskeletal abscesses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure
Subtle swelling over the anterior aspect of the patient’s right shoulder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tayal VS, Hasan N, Norton HJ, et al. The effect of soft-tissue ultrasound on the management of cellulitis in the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2006;13(4):384–388. - PubMed
    1. Squire BT, Fox JC, Anderson C. ABSCESS: applied bedside sonography for convenient evaluation of superficial soft tissue infections. Acad Emerg Med. 2005l;12(7):601–6. - PubMed
    1. Iverson K, Haritos D, Thomas R, et al. The effect of bedside ultrasound on diagnosis and management of soft tissue infections in a pediatric ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2012;30(8):1347–51. - PubMed
    1. Berger T, Garrido F, Green J, et al. Bedside ultrasound performed by novices for the detection of abscess in ED patients with soft tissue infections. Am J Emerg Med. 2012;30(8):1569–73. - PubMed
    1. Sivitz AB, Lam SH, Ramirez-Schrempp D, et al. Effect of bedside ultrasound on management of pediatric soft-tissue infection. J Emerg Med. 2010;39(5):637–43. - PubMed

Publication types