Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia

paloma123 · January 20, 2008

Hi All,

My friend had a lap band in 11 months ago and has been having problems with her port since then, she has had infections that are difficult to treat and her wound has never healed up. She had the port changed to a smaller device and she now has two port sites both of which won't heal. She has been told that the infection she has now is "Stenotrophomonas Malthophilia" and I wonder if anyone has heard of this infection, and how is it treated and more importantly could it be due to her port, tubing or band. Any advice or knowledge about this matter would be appreciated.

maziemommy · January 21, 2008

This is new vocabulary to me ... who's her doc? and where?

annieM · January 21, 2008

S. maltophilia used to be called Pseudomonas maltophilia and it is not a common infection. If you google either you'll get more information than you care for.

It can be tough to treat and your friend may have to lose her port over it. Is she on antibiotics? This bug can be very resistant to antibiotics. I would suggest she see an infectious disease doc who knows how to treat stubborn infections.

Good luck to her!

paloma123 · January 21, 2008

S. maltophilia used to be called Pseudomonas maltophilia and it is not a common infection. If you google either you'll get more information than you care for.
It can be tough to treat and your friend may have to lose her port over it. Is she on antibiotics? This bug can be very resistant to antibiotics. I would suggest she see an infectious disease doc who knows how to treat stubborn infections.

Good luck to her!

Cheers Annie M

Thanks for that, I did google it and your right it was too much info and not enough for a lay person. I have suggested to her that she talk to her doc about having the port removed until the infection finally cears up. She has had several courses of antibotics to no avail. Now that they know what they are dealing with (they recently did a swab to find out which infection it was) we are hopeful for a quick cure. Thanks for your help, I just wanted to know if anyone else was suffering or had suffered from this.