We report the presentation of a patient to a UK plastic surgery unit with Mycobacterium abscessus infection following a facelift surgery in Southern India. Treatment was protracted requiring surgical debridement and 6 months of antibiotics including a 3-week hospital admission for intravenous antibiotic therapy. We describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of this unusual microorganism with reference to more familiar pyogenic infections.
2014 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.