A bstract Mycobacterium abscessus is a very unusual cause of infection in immunocompetent patients. It is a rapidly growing microbe that rarely causes disseminated infection or native valve endocarditis. This organism exhibits intrinsic and acquired resistance to multiple antibiotics and hence becomes a major issue in planning treatment regimens. We report a unique case of a young immunocompetent male patient presenting with stroke and persistent fever. After extensive investigations, he was found to have an abscess caused by M. abscessus in the sinus of Valsalva and thrombi in the aorta that was the sequelae following coronary angioplasty. This case report explains the difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment of M. abscessus. How to cite this article Maheshwarappa HM, Machanalli G, Thilakchand KR, Tejaswini DDS. Story of an Abscess: A Case of Mycobacterium abscessus Infection in an Immunocompetent Patient. Indian J Crit Care Med 2022;26(4):533–534.

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Introduction: Analgesics are the main stay in the mitigation of pain in cancer patients.However, depending on the type of analgesics, adverse events which at times can be severe are also observed. In this study an attempt has been made to understand the beneficial and adverse effects of the standard analgesics recommended for mitigating cancer pain. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional prospective observational study with 150 cancer patients requiring analgesics and was conducted at the oncology ward of a tertiary care hospital. The prescription pattern, the mitigation of pain and the adverse events were recorded. Results: The results indicate that morphine injection was the most effective followed by morphine tablets, ultracet, tramadol and paracetamol. With regard to the adverse effects it was observed that 70.7% of the patients had one or other symptoms and that constipation (9.3%; 14/150) followed by nausea (8%; 12/150) and drowsiness (5.3%; 8/150) were the most common. Conclusion:The results of the study indicate that in spite of administering protective/ preventive drugs analgesic-induced adverse effects are common in cancer patients.