Breast Piercing Leads to Flesh-Eating Infection in 18-Year Old

For her 18th birthday, Stephanie Edington of Crawfordsville, Indiana, decided to get her breasts pierced. She had the piercings done on August 29, and evidently had no problems at first. But within a few days the piercing in her left breast developed a flesh-destroying infection. Edington is diabetic, which left her susceptible to infection.

On October 14 Edington went to the hospital and by the time she arrived she was in critical condition. "By the time she got here, the skin tissue was all pretty much completely dead," said Dr. Robert Goulet, Jr., a professor at the Indiana University Cancer Center. "She was a very sick kid when she got here."

Doctors diagnosed Edington with necrotizing fascitis, or gas gangrene, a rare condition where bacteria grow rapidly and destroy living tissue quickly. Goulet said that the procedure used to pierce Edington’s breasts probably did not cause the infection, but the piercing created an entry point for the bacteria. Surgeons were forced to remove her left breast, and also removed lymph nodes and infected skin up to her collar bone.

Goulet told the Paper of Montgomery County that this is only the third case of gas gangrene in the breast area ever documented in the world. Edington remains hospitalized on an aggressive antibiotic regimen at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, where she has already undergone three surgeries and faces several more.

Edington’s mother, Pamela Osban, told reporters that she worries about her daughter’s future, and that the situation has taken a toll on their entire family. "You have no idea what it's like to almost lose your daughter and then to make the decision to have one of her breasts removed," she said. "Some people say 'It's just a breast.' They aren't an 18-year old girl. It's devastating for her and for the family."

Edington herself is eager to be discharged but nervous about what the future holds. "I would like to get out, but I am scared of what people are going to be thinking," she said.