Suggest Treatment For Swollen And Painful Lymph Nodes

Posted on Sun, 12 Feb 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 Answered on

Sat, 11 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : Right before Christmas my son began having a painful lymph node that eventual swelled so big he could not raise his right arm above his head. The skin turned red, and then began to turn black. The doctors finally biopsied, but the node had died. They say they took out blood. They said possible cat scratch fever, but antiboties in high normal range. When they biopsied they said took out puss, but nothing grew when biopsied. Two more nodes affected in chest weak after surgery. Now running 103.2 fevers, with rapid heart beat and deep ragged cough as if struggleing to breath. When given Tylenol cough stops shortly, but as fever rises cough comes back. Has been weary and tires easily. Appetite low. 6 years old. Not much rise in white cells. Blood work comes back within normal range on everything I am told. Normally very hyper child almost diagnosed with hyper activity, now no energy. Doctors say don't know what it is. Please help. I am his mother and don't know where to turn to help him. Please help,

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
as explained in details.

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
To recapitulate: Informant is Mother - male/6 - painful large lymph nodes before Christmas - abscess - biopsied - negative - pus culture negative - possible cat scratch fever - antibiotics - two more nodes affected in chest ? - // now - running 103.2 - rapid heart - deep ragged cough - as if struggling to breath - Tylenol stops cough shortly - cough comes back as cough rises - blood work normal - 5 different rounds of antibiotics and now on Azithromycin - hyper-active child turned into weak - wants help and where to turn to ...

I would suggest the following in such a situation:
Get the child admitted, needs Temperature, pulse and blood pressure charting to see the pattern of fever on chart- gives a clue.
Blood culture and sensitivity, blood to be drawn when the child has fever/chills.
Urine: Routine, microscopy, culture and sensitivity.
CT scan of the neck and chest to see whether there is abscess, enlarged lymph nodes, pneumonia, to see for liver abscess - liver comes in chest CT scan.
Ultrasound of abdomen.

Clinical evaluation by a Pediatrician. This is very important.
Intravenous fluids and electrolytes as per the reports.
Intravenous antibiotics as per the culture report of blood/urine if comes on positive.

As per the history you have provided, the condition of the child is definitely worrisome, insist for admission to hospital if not yet admitted, discuss the above points, I hope to get the diagnosis by the above mentioned ways.

I hope, this answer helps your son, please feel free to ask for further relevant queries if you feel that there is a gap of communication.

Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D