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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Persistent Cyst On Ankles And Chronic Diarrhea

My doc recently had a swab test done on a scraping from a persistent cyst on my ankle. The lab results said it s a serious staph infection, and she prescribed a course of Cipro. Looking at the side effects, I note that it can cause Clostridium difficile. This is perhaps understandable, (given that Cipro is so powerful a systemic antibiotic), but it never occurred to me as I was failing to persuade her that I should take something less drastic. I had C. diff about five years ago, and it was about five months of simultaneously acute and chronic diarrhea, alternatively painful, explosive, and in general, a hassle. My question is this: am I more vulnerable to a (re)infection of C. diff. because I have had it? Every good wish, Edward Roeder YYYY@YYYY
Tue, 23 Jul 2019
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General Surgeon 's  Response
Hi,

First of all, 6 months of chronic diarrhea can have other reasons too and since you have not given details of investigations of those days and treatment it is difficult to know for sure the cause and treatment.
Persistent cyst means there is no wound and hence skin scrapping alone has no value.
I would advise you the following in such a situation.
If the cyst is infected then only you will need an antibiotic.
If there is pus formation then get the aspirate to be tested for microscopy, gram staining and culture sensitivity to get a list of antibiotics that can be effective and get treated accordingly keeping in mind the past history of C diff.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. T Chandrakant, General Surgeon
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Suggest Treatment For Persistent Cyst On Ankles And Chronic Diarrhea

Hi, First of all, 6 months of chronic diarrhea can have other reasons too and since you have not given details of investigations of those days and treatment it is difficult to know for sure the cause and treatment. Persistent cyst means there is no wound and hence skin scrapping alone has no value. I would advise you the following in such a situation. If the cyst is infected then only you will need an antibiotic. If there is pus formation then get the aspirate to be tested for microscopy, gram staining and culture sensitivity to get a list of antibiotics that can be effective and get treated accordingly keeping in mind the past history of C diff. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. T Chandrakant, General Surgeon