A successfully treated case of necrotizing fasciitis with complicated sepsis due to intramuscular steroid injection

Necrotising fasciitis is a devastating soft tissue infection which characterised by rapidly progressing necrosis involving mainly fascia and subcutaneous tissues. A 66-year old male patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admitted to our hospital with fever, pain and swelling in the right thigh and right leg, difficulty in walking, dry mouth and weakness. There was a single dose intramuscular steroid injection story in his anamnesis. Physical examination revealed swelling, hyperemia and pain in the right gluteal region spreading through the right femur and popliteal fossa. He was diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis complicated with sepsis. We administered the supportive therapy and broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy in addition to the surgical debridement, vacuum assisted closure and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The patient was discharged after six months of the follow-up period in hospital. In conclusion, Health-care personnel should be careful when the intramuscular injections planned for patients at the risk of development of necrotizing fasciitis reason of their chronic illnesses or immunosuppressive conditions. In patients who developed necrotizing fasciitis despite everything, we want to strongly emphasise the advantageous hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an additional therapy to the broad spectrum antibiotherapy and surgical debridement [Cukurova Med J 2016; 41(4.000): 787-791]