Mastitis is painful inflammation of the breast, usually accompanied by infection.
Fever later in the puerperium is frequently due to mastitis. Staphylococcal species are the most common causes.
Breast abscesses are very rare and occasionally caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Mastitis symptoms may include high fever and breast symptoms: erythema, induration, tenderness, pain, swelling, and warmth to the touch. Mastitis is different from the pain and cracking of nipples that frequently accompanies the start of breastfeeding.
Diagnosis of mastitis is clinical.
Treatment of Mastitis
Treatment of pain and complete emptying of breast milk
Antistaphylococcal antibiotics
Mastitis that does not respond to conservative measures or manifests as severe (eg, progressive erythema, signs of systemic illness) is treated with antibiotics aimed at Staphylococcus aureus, the most common causative pathogen. Examples are
Breast abscesses are treated mainly with incision and drainage. Antibiotics aimed at S. aureus are often used.
It is not clear whether antibiotics aimed at methicillin-resistant S. aureus are necessary for treatment of mastitis or breast abscess.
