Gas Gangrene

Gas gangrene is a severe form of gangrene which is also known as tissue death. It occurs as a result of infection by a bacterium that causes the tissue death. The symptoms of gas gangrene are numerous and severe. Gas gangrene is a disease that is very difficult to treat. All in all, gas gangrene is a very serious disease.

Gas gangrene is a form of gangrene (tissue death) usually caused by a bacterium known as clostridium porringers, but many other bacteria can cause the same effects. It is caused by an infection of clostridium bacteria that, under low oxygen conditions, produce toxins that cause the tissue death and associated symptoms. Gas gangrene is rare, with only 1,000 to 3,000 cases occurring in the United States annually. Gas gangrene usually occurs at the site of trauma or a recent surgical wound. About a third of cases occur spontaneously. Patients who develop this disease spontaneously often have underlying another disease such as diabetes or colon cancer. The onset of gas gangrene is sudden and dramatic. Inflammation begins at the site of infection and there is extremely painful tissue swelling. Gas may be felt in the tissue when the swollen area is pressed with the fingers. The areas infected expand so rapidly that changes are visible over a few minutes. The involved tissue is completely destroyed. Clostridium bacteria make many different toxins, some of which can cause potentially fatal syndromes. In addition, they cause tissue death, destruction of blood, and leaking of the blood vessels.

The symptoms of gas gangrene include moderate to severe pain around a skin injury, progressive swelling around a skin injury, and moderate to high fever. Also, when a person is infected, they form small, fluid filled blisters called vesicles. The blisters fill with a brown red fluid. Some symptoms are not so serious, such as sweating and an increased heart rate. Others are very serious like drainage from the tissues, foul-smelling brown-red or bloody fluid called serosanguineous discharge, and subcutaneous emphysema which is gas under the skin. The symptoms of gas gangrene occur suddenly and increase rapidly.

Treatment for gas gangrene can sometimes be drastic. Gas gangrene is a medical emergency because of the threat of the infection rapidly spreading via the bloodstream and infecting vital organs. It requires immediate surgery and administration of antibiotics. Prompt surgical removal of dead, damaged, and infected tissue is necessary. Amputation of an arm or leg may be indicated to control the spread of infection. There is also another form of treatment for this disease. Although still controversial, some cases of gangrene are treated by administering oxygen under pressure greater than that of the atmosphere (hyperbaric) to the patient in a specially designed chamber. The theory behind using hyperbaric oxygen is that more oxygen will become dissolved in the patient's bloodstream, and therefore, more oxygen will be delivered to the gangrenous areas. By providing optimal oxygenation, the body's ability to fight off the bacterial infection are believed to be improved, and there is a direct toxic effect on the bacteria that thrive in an oxygen-free environment. Some studies have shown that the use of hyperbaric oxygen produces marked pain relief, reduces the number of amputations required, and reduces the extent of surgical debridement required. Patients

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