Toxic shock syndrome: case report of a postpartum female and a literature review.

Toxic shock syndrome is one of the best understood of the systemic inflammatory response syndromes. The mechanisms of disease have been extensively studied; however, no therapies have been developed that can effectively reverse the syndrome once the inflammatory response has begun. Although toxic shock syndrome classically has been associated with tampon use, multiple other etiologies exist including postpartum toxic shock, which usually affects patients in the immediate weeks following delivery. We present a case of toxic shock in a woman 10 weeks postpartum and review the literature regarding both menstrual-related and nonmenstrual-related toxic shock.