Intra-abdominal Abscesses by Burkholderia cepacia in Poorly Controlled Diabetes Mellitus: A Case Series

Burkholderia is a gram-negative bacillus causing infections in immunocompromised patients. It is commonly seen in the tropics and is known to mimic tuberculosis clinically. Six patients were reviewed who were admitted in our hospital between July 2018 to June 2019 after obtaining their consent. All the six patients were uncontrolled diabetics with HbA1c levels between 8.2-13.9% who presented with fever more than 2 weeks and had abdominal symptoms like vomiting, abdominal pain or loss of appetite. Some also had respiratory symptoms like cough, chest pain and breathlessness. All of them had leucocytosis (neutrophilic). Mild transaminitis was also observed. CT abdomen revealed presence of multiple hepatic and splenic abscesses in all the patients. Chest X-ray revealed bilateral pneumonia in five patients. Burkholderia cepacia was found in the blood of four patients, sputum of one patient and splenic pus aspirate of one patient. Four patients were treated with meropenem and rest with ceftazidime. All of them responded well to treatment and became asymptomatic. Ultrasonography abdomen at follow-up was negative for any intra-abdominal abscesses. They were also put on long term oral co-trimoxazole. The clinical presentation of Burkholderia closely mimics tuberculosis as it predominantly affects immunocompromised and causes a long-duration multi-systemic illness. There has been several case series of intra-abdominal abscesses caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei but infections by Burkholderia cepacia in the abdomen is a rare finding. The diagnosis of burkholderia is often delayed due to its inconspicuous nature, lack of clinical suspicion and often mimicking tuberculosis clinically.