Tongue piercing has become an increasingly popular form of body art. However, this procedure can occasionally be complicated by serious bacterial infections. The present article reports a case of prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by a Gemella species in a patient with a pierced tongue, and reviews 18 additional cases of local and systemic bacterial infections associated with tongue piercing. Infections localized to the oral cavity and head and neck region included molar abscess, glossal abscess, glossitis, submandibular lymphadenitis, submandibular sialadenitis, Ludwig’s angina and cephalic tetanus. Infections distal to the piercing site included eight cases of infective endocarditis, one case of chorioamnionitis and one case of cerebellar abscess. Oropharyngeal flora were isolated from all cases. While bacterial infections following tongue piercing are rare, there are reports of potentially life-threatening infections associated with the procedure. Both piercers and their clients should be aware of these potential complications, and standardized infection prevention and control practices should be adopted by piercers to reduce the risk.

中文翻译：

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细菌感染使舌头穿孔变得复杂。

穿舌已成为一种越来越流行的人体艺术形式。然而，这个过程有时会因严重的细菌感染而复杂化。本文报道一例由Gemella引起的人工瓣膜心内膜炎。舌穿孔患者的物种，并回顾了另外 18 例与舌穿孔相关的局部和全身细菌感染病例。口腔和头颈部区域的感染包括磨牙脓肿、舌脓肿、舌炎、下颌下淋巴结炎、下颌下唾液腺炎、路德维希心绞痛和头部破伤风。穿刺部位远端感染包括 8 例感染性心内膜炎、1 例绒毛膜羊膜炎和 1 例小脑脓肿。从所有病例中分离出口咽菌群。虽然穿舌后的细菌感染很少见，但有报道称，与该手术相关的可能危及生命的感染。穿孔者和他们的客户都应该意识到这些潜在的并发症，