Burn injuries and soft tissue traumas complicated by mucormycosis infection: a report of six cases and review of the literature

Mucor fungus infection is a rare opportunistic infection, rapidly progressive and often fatal in immunocompromised patients, or in patients with chronic debilitating diseases. We report six cases of trauma patients with mucormycosis. Three had severe thermal burns, one of them with a medical history of diabetes mellitus. The other three patients suffered from severe soft tissue injuries caused by traffic accidents. In all cases there had been spontaneous exposure and contact of the wounds with soil. During hospitalization, fungi cultures and/or biopsies of all wounds were performed and all resulted positive. The patients were treated with Amphotericin B (AmB) and surgical debridement. Two of them died and the other four were fully healed and discharged. Mucormycosis should be considered in any case of aggressive skin tissue necrosis with a history of soiled wounds. We suggest that mucormycosis is treated by intravenous and local administration of AmB, extensive and repeated debridement and cautious coverage of the wound. The plastic surgeon must wait for negative swab cultures and biopsies before covering the defects with skin grafts or flaps. Reconstruction may be challenging, depending on the extent, depth, location and special indications of the affected site and the donor site availability.