Tubo ovarian abscess as a complication of typhoid fever

Abstract

This paper was read at a joint meeting of the Association of Surgeons and Physicians of Malta and the Fifth Army Surgeons Travelling Club at a meeting in Malta, in May 1968. Typhoid Fever has been notorious over the decades for the variety of complications that may arise from it, and numerous references are to be found in the medical literature devoted partly or exclusively to discussion of these complications. Abscess involvement of the ovaries or Fallopian tubes is one of the rarest of complications. A patient who developed this rare complication is here described and a short review of the literature made. Factors that may have contributed to this complication are furthermore discussed. A particular aspect of typhoid management which this case study illustrates is the relationship of relapse to dosage of Chloramphenicol. It is strongly believed that the complication of tubo-ovarian abscess in the present case would not have arisen had a fully adequate dose of Chloramphenicol been given at home from the start.