A 30-year-old man developed an itchy erythemato-edematous vesicular lesion around his surgical wound on the fourth postoperative week (Fig. A). A routine blood test at the first outpatient clinic follow-up (4 weeks postoperatively) showed: WBC, 9500/μL; ESR, 12 mm/h; and CRP, 0.1 mg/dL. The patient was referred to the dermatologic clinic where he was diagnosed with contact dermatitis and skin infection, and prescribed oral antibiotics for 3 days and a local steroid ointment. The patient's pruritis resolved 2 weeks later (Fig. B), and the skin lesions resolved after 4 weeks of treatment (Fig. C).
A 38-year-old African American woman with a BMI of 28.13 and an allergy to codeine and iodine () was prepped with chlorhexidine gluconate and the following sutures were utilized: deep polyglactin 910, deep poliglecaprone 25, and intracuticular poliglecaprone 25. The patient presented eight days later with numerous erythematous papules on the upper poles of the breasts that had presented that morning. Over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream had not alleviated symptoms. She was instructed to continue hydrocortisone. Ten days later, the rash had spread to her flexor forearms. She began a methylprednisone taper pack and the rash resolved within two days.