Abstract

Fever is a common presenting complaint about many clinical conditions in children. Most febrile illnesses either resolve before a diagnosis can be made or may show distinguishing characteristics that lead to a diagnosis. The most difficult clinical scenario is when the fever is prolonged for more than one to two weeks. Herein we report a case of a 1-year 1month female child who presented to us with pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) in busy daily OPD, diagnosed subsequently as a perianal abscess and successfully treated. An anorectal abscess, specifically a perianal abscess, is a relatively uncommon infection in children. It is a purulent fluid collection under the soft tissue outside the anus. Some of these abscesses may spontaneously drain and heal by themselves, while others may result in sepsis and require surgical intervention as this was done in our index case.

Key words: Anorectal abscess, Febrile illness, Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO)