Year Book: Mycobacterium marinum Infection of the Hand and Wrist

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Results of Conservative Treatment in Twenty-Four Cases. Chow-S-P. Ip-F-K. Lau-J-H-K. Collins-R-J. Luk-K-D-K. So-Y-C. Pun-W-K. 1988 Year Book of Orthopedics. Article 10-11. J. Bone Joint Surg. (Am.). 1987 Oct. 69-A. pp 1161-1168. Superficial cutaneous infections of the hand with Mycobacterium marinum usually respond to conservative treatment with various drugs or irradiation and rarely require surgical intervention. However, infections with M. marinum of the deep structures of the hand are often more destructive and more resistant to treatment. A combination of surgical debridement and antimycobacterial therapy has been used to control such infections. However, because further spread of synovitis, extensive scarring, and breakdown of the wound have been commonly encountered after surgical debridement (Fig 10-6), the authors conducted a prospective study to assess the outcome of a more conservative approach to treatment.