Acute Mastitis (急性乳腺炎)

Acute mastitis refers to an acute infective disease caused by invasion of bacteria into mammary glands and lactiferous duct. This disease is often seen in the women with breastfeeding, especially in primipara, usually occurring 3-4 weeks latter after delivery. It is caused by the invasion of bacteria into the ruptured nipple, and unsmooth lactation with stagnancy of milk, leading to reproduction of bacteria. The clinical manifestations are swelling, redness and pain, and hard mass in the local breast, accompanied by aversion to cold and fever, enlargement of subaxillary lymph nodes in the affected side. This disease belongs to the category of “breast carbuncle” in Chinese Medicine. It is caused by invasion of exopathogenic factors, or retention of milk leading to stagnancy of blood and qi; or by emotional problem causing depression of liver qi; or by excessively greasy food intake resulting in accumulation of heat in the stomach meridian, thus, the disease occurs because of congestion of qi and blood with retention of milk resulting from obstruction of the collaterals.

CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS: Redness, swelling and pain in the affected breast. Before suppuration, palpable mass in the breast, swelling, pain and difficulty in secreting milk, frequently accompanied by headache with chills and fever, nausea and thirst; during suppuration, progressively enlarged mass in the breast, redness and swelling of skin, continuously throbbing pain in the local area, and lingering fever.

急性乳腺炎是指由细菌引起的侵入乳腺和输乳管的急性感染性疾病。这种病常见于妇女哺乳，尤其是初产妇，通常发生在分娩后3-4周后。它是由细菌侵入破裂乳头，涩泌乳的牛奶停滞引起的，从而导致细菌的繁殖。其临床表现有肿胀，局部乳房红肿和疼痛，质硬，伴有畏寒患侧腋下淋巴结感冒发烧，肿大。本病属“乳痈”在中国医学的范畴。它是由外感因素的影响，或牛奶导致的气血滞潴留浸润引起;或导致肝气抑郁情绪问题;或导致在胃经积热过多油腻食物的摄入量，因此，本病的发生是因为与从络脉受阻导致乳汁潴留气血阻塞。

临床表现：发红，肿胀，受影响的乳房疼痛。化脓，可扪及肿块乳房，肿胀，疼痛，难以在分泌乳汁之前，经常伴有头痛伴畏寒，发热，恶心，口渴;化脓时，逐步扩大群众在乳房，红肿及皮肤肿胀，持续在当地抽痛，以及挥之不去的发烧。