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Gas gangrene

MedGen UID:
8959
•Concept ID:
C0017105
•
Disease or Syndrome
Synonyms: Gangrene, Gas; Gangrenes, Gas; Gas Gangrene; Gas Gangrenes
SNOMED CT: Gas gangrene (80466000); Gas bacillus infection (80466000); Malignant edema (80466000); Clostridial myositis (80466000); Clostridial myonecrosis (80466000); Gas gangrene due to Clostridia (80466000); Progressive emphysematous necrosis (80466000)
 
Monarch Initiative: MONDO:0005767

Definition

A severe condition resulting from bacteria invading healthy muscle from adjacent traumatized muscle or soft tissue. The infection originates in a wound contaminated with bacteria of the genus clostridium. C. perfringens accounts for the majority of cases (over eighty percent), while C. noyvi, C. septicum, and C. histolyticum cause most of the other cases. [from MONDO]

Term Hierarchy

CClinical test,  RResearch test,  OOMIM,  GGeneReviews,  VClinVar  
  • CROGVGas gangrene

Professional guidelines

PubMed

Treatment of severe skin and soft tissue infections: a review.
Burnham JP, Kollef MH
Curr Opin Infect Dis 2018 Apr;31(2):113-119. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000431. PMID: 29278528Free PMC Article
Diagnosis and management of skin and soft tissue infections in the intensive care unit: a review.
Burnham JP, Kirby JP, Kollef MH
Intensive Care Med 2016 Dec;42(12):1899-1911. Epub 2016 Oct 3 doi: 10.1007/s00134-016-4576-0. PMID: 27699456Free PMC Article
Complex wounds and their management.
Park H, Copeland C, Henry S, Barbul A
Surg Clin North Am 2010 Dec;90(6):1181-94. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2010.08.001. PMID: 21074035

Recent clinical studies

Therapy

Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections.
Stevens DL, Bryant AE, Goldstein EJ
Infect Dis Clin North Am 2021 Mar;35(1):135-155. Epub 2020 Dec 7 doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2020.10.004. PMID: 33303335
Spontaneous Non-Traumatic Clostridium perfringens Sepsis.
Hifumi T
Jpn J Infect Dis 2020 May 22;73(3):177-180. Epub 2019 Dec 25 doi: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2019.382. PMID: 31875607
Aggressive Soft Tissue Infections.
Garcia NM, Cai J
Surg Clin North Am 2018 Oct;98(5):1097-1108. Epub 2018 Jul 29 doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2018.05.001. PMID: 30243450
Treatment of severe skin and soft tissue infections: a review.
Burnham JP, Kollef MH
Curr Opin Infect Dis 2018 Apr;31(2):113-119. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000431. PMID: 29278528Free PMC Article
Necrotizing Soft-Tissue Infections.
Stevens DL, Bryant AE
N Engl J Med 2017 Dec 7;377(23):2253-2265. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1600673. PMID: 29211672

Prognosis

Treatment of severe skin and soft tissue infections: a review.
Burnham JP, Kollef MH
Curr Opin Infect Dis 2018 Apr;31(2):113-119. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000431. PMID: 29278528Free PMC Article
Life-threatening clostridial infections.
Stevens DL, Aldape MJ, Bryant AE
Anaerobe 2012 Apr;18(2):254-9. Epub 2011 Nov 20 doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2011.11.001. PMID: 22120198
Complex wounds and their management.
Park H, Copeland C, Henry S, Barbul A
Surg Clin North Am 2010 Dec;90(6):1181-94. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2010.08.001. PMID: 21074035
Obesity and dermatology.
Scheinfeld NS
Clin Dermatol 2004 Jul-Aug;22(4):303-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2004.01.001. PMID: 15475230
Hyperbaric oxygen.
Strauss MB, Bryant B
Orthopedics 2002 Mar;25(3):303-10. doi: 10.3928/0147-7447-20020301-13. PMID: 11918035

Clinical prediction guides

Treatment of severe skin and soft tissue infections: a review.
Burnham JP, Kollef MH
Curr Opin Infect Dis 2018 Apr;31(2):113-119. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000431. PMID: 29278528Free PMC Article
Spontaneous C. septicum gas gangrene: A literature review.
Srivastava I, Aldape MJ, Bryant AE, Stevens DL
Anaerobe 2017 Dec;48:165-171. Epub 2017 Aug 2 doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2017.07.008. PMID: 28780428
Clinical Serum Therapy: Benefits, Cautions, and Potential Applications.
Hifumi T, Yamamoto A, Ato M, Sawabe K, Morokuma K, Morine N, Kondo Y, Noda E, Sakai A, Takahashi J, Umezawa K
Keio J Med 2017 Dec 25;66(4):57-64. Epub 2017 Apr 28 doi: 10.2302/kjm.2016-0017-IR. PMID: 28450682
Clostridium perfringens Sialidases: Potential Contributors to Intestinal Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Targets.
Li J, Uzal FA, McClane BA
Toxins (Basel) 2016 Nov 19;8(11) doi: 10.3390/toxins8110341. PMID: 27869757Free PMC Article
Tumor-colonizing bacteria: a potential tumor targeting therapy.
Zu C, Wang J
Crit Rev Microbiol 2014 Aug;40(3):225-35. Epub 2013 Aug 22 doi: 10.3109/1040841X.2013.776511. PMID: 23964706

Recent systematic reviews

Reported outcome measures in necrotising soft tissue infections: a systematic review.
Wackett J, Devaney B, Chau R, Ho J, King N, Grewal J, Armstrong J, Mitra B
Diving Hyperb Med 2024 Mar 31;54(1):47-56. doi: 10.28920/dhm54.1.47-56. PMID: 38507909Free PMC Article
Presence of periaortic gas in Clostridium septicum-infected aortic aneurysm aids in early diagnosis: a case report and systematic review of the literature.
Ito F, Inokuchi R, Matsumoto A, Kumada Y, Yokoyama H, Ishida T, Hashimoto K, Narita M, Shinohara K
J Med Case Rep 2017 Sep 21;11(1):268. doi: 10.1186/s13256-017-1422-0. PMID: 28931420Free PMC Article
Interventions for treating gas gangrene.
Yang Z, Hu J, Qu Y, Sun F, Leng X, Li H, Zhan S
Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015 Dec 3;2015(12):CD010577. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010577.pub2. PMID: 26631369Free PMC Article
Hyperbaric oxygen for treating wounds: a systematic review of the literature.
Wang C, Schwaitzberg S, Berliner E, Zarin DA, Lau J
Arch Surg 2003 Mar;138(3):272-9; discussion 280. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.138.3.272. PMID: 12611573

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