Summary

Groin pain is a frequently occurring complaint in presentations to the Emergency Department. Muscular sprain is often a differential diagnosis, however serious conditions such as pyomyositis should not be ignored. This case report presents a child with atraumatic right groin pain, which was initially diagnosed as a muscular sprain. The patient later re-presented out of hours to the Emergency Department with what was found to be extensive pelvic abscesses. He was subsequently found to have bilateral pneumonia and later developed a pericardial effusion and osteomyelitis of the right iliac bone, sacroiliac joint and sacrum. With multiple surgical interventions and appropriate antibiotics, he made a full recovery and was discharged home after a total admission time of 41 days. The causative organism was found to be Panton-Valentine leucocidin-positive methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.