Necrotizing fasciitis. Importance of roentgenographic studies for soft-tissue gas
J. R. Fisher, M. J. Conway, R. T. Takeshita and M. R. Sandoval
Twenty-six patients with necrotizing fasciitis were treated during a
nine-year period. Twenty-one (81%) had diabetes mellitus and 19 (73%) had
gas in their soft tissues from nonclostridial infection. Although
crepitation was found by physical examination in only five patients,
roentgenographic examination of the involved site disclosed gas in every
patient in whom it was subsequently found at surgery. Previous studies have
not used roentgenography to search for soft-tissue gas. The 21 diabetic
patients in our series had a mortality of 19%, the lowest yet reported.
This suggested that roentgenographic study of cases with fasciitis permits
earlier diagnosis and favorably affects outcome.
