Necrotising Soft-Tissue Infection of the Upper Limb: A Case Report and Review of Current Management

Abstract

Necrotising soft-tissue infection is a life-threatening infection that requires a high index of suspicion for diagnosis. Treatment of this condition is an urgent and aggressive surgical debridement of all necrotic tissues within 12hours of presentation, high-dose broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy and critical care support. It is a surgical emergency and requires a multidisciplinary team coordination between the surgeons, critical care and microbiology specialists. This approach has now been shown to reduce by 50% the high mortality of this condition. We present a rare case of upper limb Necrotising soft-tissue infection and review the current management of this surgical emergency.