Diagnosis, clinical course and treatment of acute dermal gangrene

Twenty patients with acute dermal gangrene following surgery, trauma or sepsis are described. In 12 the skin became gangrenous secondary to a necrotizing process affecting the subdermal fascia, and in 8 the condition arose primarily in the skin. In the first group mortality was high unless radical excision of the necrotic fascia was performed at an early stage; in 3 of the recent patients the overlying skin was removed, defatted and stored for later grafting. In the second group, incision and adequate drainage combined with antibiotics seemed to suffice. Hyperbaric oxygen was of dubious value in the first group but appeared to contribute to arrest of the lesion in the second group.