Avoidance of total abdominal wall loss despite torso soft tissue clostridial myonecrosis: a case report

Journal of Medical Case Reports

Andrew Wallace Kirkpatrick¹  Ian Bruce Anderson¹  Jean-Francois Ouellet¹  Chad Geoffrey Ball¹ 

[1] Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403-29 St. N.W., T2N 2T9, Calgary, AB, Canada

关键词: Necrotizing soft tissue infection;    Hernia;    Biologic prosthesis;   

Others  :  1195156
DOI  :  10.1186/1752-1947-7-5

 received in 2012-08-13, accepted in 2012-11-07,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Introduction

Clostridial necrotizing soft tissue infections are often fatal. Myonecrosis of the torso is a particularly lethal combination given the classic need for radical debridement of the abdominal and thoracic walls, and therefore total exposure of the intraperitoneal and intrathoracic viscera. This case is unusual do to our ability to preserve anatomical separation between the viscera and the atmosphere.

Case presentation

We present a 42-year-old Caucasian man with obesity and diabetes who developed clostridial myonecrosis of his right torso following a mesenteric lymph node biopsy. This required an aggressive debridement (sparing subcutaneous flaps and internal oblique aponeurosis) followed by reconstruction of his right hemi-torso with a biologic prosthesis to prevent subsequent hernia formation.

Conclusion

Although basic principles associated with radical debridement were maintained, a full thickness torso wall resection was avoided. This provided reconstruction advantages that included endogenous subcutaneous flap coverage, separation of the peritoneal cavity by the internal oblique aponeurosis, and prevention of a subsequent hernia below the arcuate line. This technique would be of interest to any surgeon or clinician who treats patients with life-threatening torso soft tissue infections.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Ball et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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