Mastitis
Basics
Description
Description
- Inflammation, often accompanied by infection, of the breast tissue resulting in pain, erythema, and edema
- Lactational, most common—due to prolonged engorgement or poor drainage of milk
- Nonlactational, less common—due to inflammation of subareolar ducts (periductal mastitis) or idiopathic granulomatous lobar mastitis
- Often with systemic symptoms including:
- Malaise
- Fever
- Incidence may be as high as 20% in lactating women
- Onset typically 1–6 wk postpartum
- Complications:
- Cessation of breastfeeding (most common)
- Recurrence
- Abscess (up to 3% of cases)
- Sepsis
- Necrotizing fasciitis
- Cutaneous fistula
- Long lasting decrease in milk production
Pediatric Considerations
Can occur in infants, typically those <2 mo of age
Etiology
Etiology
- Staphylococcus aureus most common
- Less common causes:
- Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus
- Streptococcus spp.
- Escherichia coli
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Candida albicans
- Risk factors:
- Lactational
- Nipple trauma
- Poor infant latch
- Local milk stasis
- Poor maternal nutrition
- Previous mastitis
- Primiparity
- Use of a breast pump
- Advanced maternal age
- Maternal diabetes
- Maternal use of antibiotics
- Nonlactational
- Breaks in the skin barrier
- IV drug use
- Cigarette smoking
- Trauma
- Eczema or other dermatologic conditions
- Systemic diseases
- Lactational
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Citation
Schaider, Jeffrey J., et al., editors. "Mastitis." 5-Minute Emergency Consult, 6th ed., Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2020. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307340/all/Mastitis.
Mastitis. In: Schaider JJJ, Barkin RMR, Hayden SRS, et al, eds. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2020. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307340/all/Mastitis. Accessed January 13, 2025.
Mastitis. (2020). In Schaider, J. J., Barkin, R. M., Hayden, S. R., Wolfe, R. E., Barkin, A. Z., Shayne, P., & Rosen, P. (Eds.), 5-Minute Emergency Consult (6th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307340/all/Mastitis
Mastitis [Internet]. In: Schaider JJJ, Barkin RMR, Hayden SRS, Wolfe RER, Barkin AZA, Shayne PP, Rosen PP, editors. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2020. [cited 2025 January 13]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307340/all/Mastitis.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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