- Abscess
- A local accumulation of pus anywhere in the body. The following are some examples of abscesses: {{}}A skin abscess is better known as a common boil; A peritonsillar abscess is a persistent collection of pus behind the tonsils; and A perianal abscess is a pool of pus that forms next to the anus, often causing considerable tenderness and swelling in that area and pain on sitting down and on defecating.
* * *1. A circumscribed collection of purulent exudate frequently associated with swelling and other signs of inflammation. 2. A cavity formed by liquefactive necrosis within solid tissue. [L. abscessus, a going away]- alveolar a. an a. situated within the alveolar process of the jaws, most often caused by extension of infection from an adjacent nonvital tooth. SYN: dental a., dentoalveolar a., root a..- amebic a. an area of liquefaction necrosis of the liver or other organ containing amebae, often following amebic dysentery. SYN: tropical a..- apical a. SYN: periapical a..- appendiceal a. an intraperitoneal a., usually in the right iliac fossa, resulting from extension of infection in acute appendicitis, especially with perforation of the appendix. SYN: periappendiceal a..- Bezold a. an a. deep to the superior part of the sternocleidomastoid muscle due to suppurative destruction of the mastoid tip cells in mastoiditis.- bicameral a. an a. with two separate cavities or chambers.- caseous a. an a. containing white solid or semisolid material of cheeselike consistency; usually tuberculous. SEE ALSO: cheesy a..- cheesy a. an a. that contains necrotic tissue with a cheeselike consistency; typically seen in tuberculosis. SEE ALSO: caseous a..- cholangitic a. (ko-lan-ji′-tik) a focal area of pus formation in the liver resulting from infection arising in the biliary tract.- crypt abscesses abscesses in crypts of Lieberkühn of the large intestinal mucosa; a characteristic feature of ulcerative colitis.- dry a. the remains of an a. after the pus is absorbed.- Dubois abscesses small cysts of the thymus containing polymorphonuclear leukocytes but lined by squamous epithelium; reported in congenital syphilis but also found in the absence of syphilis. SYN: Dubois disease, thymic abscesses.- gas a. an a. containing gas. Frequently caused by gas-forming organisms such as Enterobacter aerogenes or Escherichia coli.- gravitation a. SYN: perforating a..- hematogenous a. an a. caused by blood-borne organisms.- hot a. SYN: acute a..- hypostatic a. SYN: perforating a..- lateral alveolar a. an alveolar a. located along the lateral root surface of a tooth. SYN: pericemental a..- lateral periodontal a. an a. that forms at the depth of a periodontal pocket due to multiplication of pyogenic microorganisms or the presence of foreign material.- metastatic a. a secondary a. formed, at a distance from the primary focus, as a result of the transportation of pyogenic bacteria by the lymph or bloodstream.- migrating a. SYN: perforating a..- miliary a. one of a number of minute collections of pus, widely disseminated throughout an area or the whole body.- orbital a. a collection of pus between the orbital periosteum and the lamina papyracea; frequently an extension of purulent infection of the paranasal sinuses, usually the ethmoids.- otitic a. a brain a., usually involving the temporal lobe or cerebellar hemisphere, secondary to suppuration of the middle ear.- palatal a. 1. a lateral periodontal a. associated with the lingual surface of a maxillary tooth; 2. an alveolar a. that has eroded the cortical plate, allowing extension into the palatal soft tissues.- parametric a., parametritic a. an a. in the connective tissue of the broad ligament of the uterus.- parotid a. suppuration in the parotid gland; an often rapidly progressing complication of parotitis.- pelvic a. an a. in the pelvic peritoneal cavity, developing as a complication of diffuse peritonitis or of localized peritonitis associated with abdominal or pelvic inflammatory disease, such as salpingitis; the pus frequently collects in the rectovesical or rectouterine pouch.- perforating a. an a. that breaks down tissue barriers to enter adjacent areas. SYN: gravitation a., hypostatic a., migrating a., wandering a..- periapical a. an alveolar a. localized around the apex of a tooth root. SYN: apical a., apical periodontal a..- periappendiceal a. SYN: appendiceal a..- periarticular a. an a. surrounding a joint, but not necessarily involving it.- pericoronal a. an a. developing in the inflamed dental follicular tissue overlying the crown of a partially erupted tooth.- peritonsillar a. extension of tonsillar infection beyond the tonsillar capsule with a. formation between the capsule and the musculature of the tonsillar fossa.- periureteral a. an a. surrounding the ureter.- periurethral a. an a. involving the tissues around the urethra, particularly the corpus spongiosum.- phlegmonous a. circumscribed suppuration characterized by intense surrounding inflammatory reaction that produces induration and thickening of the affected area.- psoas a. an a., usually tuberculous, originating in tuberculous spondylitis and extending through the iliopsoas muscle to the inguinal region.- pulp a. an a. involving the soft tissue within the pulp chamber of a tooth, usually a sequela of caries or less frequently of trauma.- residual a. an a. recurring at the site of a former a. resulting from persistence of microbes and pus.- retrocecal a. an a. located posterior to the cecum, usually resulting from perforation of a retrocecal appendix.- retropharyngeal a. an a. arising, usually, in retropharyngeal lymph node s, most commonly in infants.- ring a. an acute purulent inflammation of the corneal periphery in which a necrotic area is surrounded by an annular girdle of leukocytic infiltration.- septicemic a. SYN: pyemic a..- stellate a. a star-shaped necrotic area surrounded by histiocytes, seen within swollen lymph node s in lymphogranuloma venereum and cat scratch fever.- sterile a. 1. an a. whose contents are not caused by pyogenic bacteria. 2. an a. that when aspirated or cultured does not grow bacteria.- subdiaphragmatic a. SYN: subphrenic a..- subhepatic a. an a. located immediately beneath the liver.- tropical a. SYN: amebic a..- tuboovarian a. a large a. involving a uterine tube and an adherent ovary, resulting from extension of purulent inflammation of the tube.- wandering a. SYN: perforating a..
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ab·scess 'ab-.ses n, pl ab·scess·es 'ab-səs-.ēz, -.ses-, -əz a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissueab·scessed -.sest adj* * *
n.a localized collection of pus anywhere in the body, surrounded and walled off by damaged and inflamed tissues. A boil is an example of an abscess within the skin. The usual cause is local bacterial infection, often by staphylococci, that the body's defences have failed to overcome. In a cold abscess, due to tubercle organisms, there is swelling, but little pain or inflammation (as in acute abscesses). Antibiotics, aided by surgical incision to release pus where necessary, are the usual forms of treatment.The brain and its meninges have a low resistance to infection and a cerebral abscess is liable to follow any penetration of these by microorganisms. The condition is fatal unless relieved by aspiration or surgical drainage.* * *
ab·scess (abґses) [L. abscessus, from ab away + cedere to go] a localized collection of pus within tissues, organs, or confined spaces. See also empyema.
Cross section of abscess.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
