gonococcal pyomyositis

gonococcal pyomyositis

Etymology: Gk, gone, seed, kokkos, berry, pyon, pus, mys, muscle, itis, inflammation

an acute inflammatory condition of a muscle caused by infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, characterized by abscess formation and pain. It is an unusual form of gonorrhea and must be differentiated from sarcoma. Diagnosis is made by the discovery of the gonococcal diplococci within the abscess when a bacterial culture of a specimen is prepared after exploratory surgery. The patient is then usually found to be asymptomatically infected in the urogenital organs. Antibiotic treatment, most often with ceftriaxone, is rapidly effective in curing the infection.