https://www.selleckchem.com/products/osmi-4.html Although rapidly growing non-tuberculosis mycobacterium can occasionally cause postoperative infections, Mycobacterium neoaurum is a rare pathogen of surgical site infection. We report a case of pin tract infection caused by M. neoaurum in a 14-year-old girl who was admitted for lengthening of her right fourth metatarsal bone. Pain, redness, and exudate were observed 18 days after external fixator insertion. Repeated exudate cultures revealed M. neoaurum, and she was diagnosed with a mycobacterial pin tract infection. She was initially administered intravenous ciprofloxacin and minocycline, and then was switched to oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and minocycline for a total of 6 months. Despite the pin tract infection, bone lengthening was completed under antibiotic treatment without removal of the pin; no other complications were noted. There are no prior reports of external fixator pin tract infection by M. neoaurum. While such cases may be rare, this case demonstrates that bone distraction may still be successfully completed using appropriate antibiotic therapy without pin removal. To analyse the factors related to suffering in chronic patients within the hospital context. Descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional quantitative study. Conducted in a hospital in central Portugal, between January and June 2013. A convenience sample of 307 chronic patients was selected. The variables collected through the questionnaire were age, sex, marital status, employment status, monthly income, perception of family functioning (Smilkinstein), clinical pathology, spirituality (Pinto and Pais-Ribeiro) and degree of suffering (McIntyre and Gameiro). The project was approved by the hospital's ethics committee. The participants signed an informed consent form. The global suffering of chronic patients studied at the hospital level is moderate (M=3.01), on a scale of 1 to 5, with the psychological dimension being the most affecte