Athlete's Foot Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Athlete's Foot, including details on tinea, causes, treatment, prevention.

Tinea capitis: no incision nor excision.

von Laer Tschudin L, Laffitte E, Baudraz-Rosselet F, Dushi G, Hohlfeld J, de Buys Roessingh AS

Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Center of the Canton of Vaud (CHUV), 1011 Lausanne-CHUV, Switzerland.

Tinea capitis is a fungal infection of the scalp and hair shaft that mainly affects prepubescent children. Its clinical aspects range from a mild noninflammatory infection resembling seborrheic dermatitis to a highly inflammatory swelling reaction (kerion). We report the cases of 2 children who underwent surgical treatment of their kerions under general anesthesia. One lesion had been incised and the other excised. This inappropriate treatment made conservative treatment after surgery more difficult. We recommend that abscesslike lesions on the scalps of children be carefully investigated by surgeons and dermatologists to determine whether they are the result of a dermatophytic infection in order that the appropriate conservative treatment can be initiated.

Published 20 August 2007 in J Pediatr Surg, 42(8): E33-6.
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