Non-typhoidal Salmonella soft-tissue infection after gender affirming subcutaneous mastectomy case report

Abstract

We present a case of a 32-year-old transgender male who underwent chest masculinization, complicated by purulent soft tissue infection of bilateral chest incisions. Cultures tested positive for non-typhoidal Salmonella, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Herein, we discuss multiple factors contributing to the complexity of treating this patient’s clinical course.

Keywords:

• Chest masculinization
• top surgery
• transgender health
• salmonella
• case report

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the patient described herein for their willingness, consent, and enthusiasm to participate in this academic work. Sharing his experience helps further our clinical understanding and professional humility when working with and caring for members of the transgender community. We hope describing this patient’s treatment plan and clinical course helps other physicians and healthcare providers successfully recognize and treat similar occurrences in their own practice. IRB submission and approval of this case report was not required.

Disclosure statement

The authors of this publication received no financial support for the research, authorship, or subsequent publication of this case report. Authors do not have any further disclosures or conflicts of interest to report in the writing of this paper.

Notes

1 WPATH, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit that publishes evidence-based Standards of Care and Ethical Guidelines articulating the psychiatric, medical, and surgical management of patients experiencing gender dysphoria. Criteria mentioned in this article follow WPATH Standards of Care, Version 7, which is available for free download at wpath.org

2 Note: the term cisgender is commonly used to describe someone who has a gender identity that aligns with that individual’s sex assigned to them at birth (i.e. woman and female; man and male). Cisgender is used in the context of this article to describe members of a majority population who do not identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, or gender nonbinary, among others.