Anyone ever heard of doing an incisional biopsy to diagnose the cause of a skin rash?

My niece (mid 60's) has a body rash that just developed.


She's in real discomfort. They live in a rural area in a very nice home. The doctor did a biopsy by making about a 2 inch incision in her hip and won't get results for 3-4 weeks. What are they looking for? She's wondering if it's scabies, or perhaps a tick or some other 'rodent' or plant caused rash. She's itching so badly and they didn't even give her anything for that. They have several in house cats ( they are very well cared for) as are their outdoor cats too.


thanks.


yanksgirl|||----------------------------------------...


SKIN BIOPSIES


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It sounds like your niece had one of the more invasional biopsies, an excisional biopsy. See the 4 types below. If it is still painful and appears red after a few days, she may have developed an infection at the site so it is best to contact the physician to determine the exact cause.





The type of biopsy done takes into consideration the location, size, and type of lesion, and the presence of certain symptoms. All methods should involve local injection or topical application of an anesthetic. Some skin rashes can indicate life-threatening conditions such as pemphigus vulgaris (PV), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), toxic shock syndrome (TSS), staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSS), cancer, or some inflammatory diseases of the skin. It sounds like the physician felt that this type of biopsy would best provide the info needed for a correct diagnosis and erred on the side of caution. The skin biopsies usually don't come back right away, usually taking 2-3 weeks. That's a long wait.





Types of Skin Biopsies





SHAVE BIOPSY


The least invasive technique involves removing the superficial levels of skin, and does not require stitches.





PUNCH BIOPSY


Deeper skin lesions may require a small cylinder of skin (usually the size of a pencil eraser) to be removed with a sharp, hollow instrument. If the sample is large, stitches may be used to closed the area.





INCISIONAL BIOPSY


An incisional biospy removes a small piece that is the full thickness of the skin using a surgical tool.





EXCISIONAL BIOPSY


An excisional biopsy requires injection of a local anesthetic and removes an entire lesion (lump, spot, or sore), going as deep as necessary to get the entire area. Bleeding is controlled by pressure, and the the incision is closed with stitches. If a large section is removed, skin graft or flap of normal skin may be used to replace it.|||the doctor has preformed an incision biopsy to enable him to take a deep section of the skin for testing at the lab, the incision is required to remove a section of the dermis to see where the infection is originating from, most infections occur on the epi dermis (outer skin) but he is checking for an infection comming from much deeper,


i am sure he will find the source and the cure..


good luck|||She may want to look at the medication she is already taking and possibly check out the information on "shingles" since she is in her 60's. They also can give her benedryll for allergic reaction (if it was to food,cats,etc.) or Zyrtec stronger allergy pill which also takes care of the cat allergy is she just developed it. The benedryll will help with the itch but Attarax is very helpful for the itch that just leaves you besides yourself. Ask the doctor to give prescription for meds. and do not take no for an answer