Gas Gangrene Case Study
Kenneth Suggs was omitted to North Cypress Medical Hospital on June 12, 2008 where he was diagnosed with gas gangrene. Suggs’ is a 45 year old white male, weighs 180 pounds, and is at the height of 5’10. At arrival his symptoms were recorded as severe pain, tenderness and swelling around the wound. He had skin discoloration and the wound had a foul odor. He also complained of a “crackly” sound when he pressed around the wound. When examined, the patient was running a high fever and had brownish pus leaking from the site of trauma. Suggs explained to nurses that he was in a lawn mowing accident that resulted in a deep puncture wound in his left foot from a piece of blade that had broken off the mower. Due to the odor, …show more content…
A CT scan and an MRI can also be used to look for gas. The gram stain of the fluids from the wound revealed the bacteria clostridium perfringens confirming the diagnosis of gas gangrene. This bacteria is gram-positive, rod-shaped (bacilli), anaerobic, and spore-forming. Clostridia live in virtually all anaerobic habitats of nature where organic compounds are present, including soils. Because the lawn mower blades had been in contact with soil the clostridia entered the foot when the blade punctured him. Clostridia are capable of fermenting a large variety of organic compounds. During the fermentation of sugars, they produce end products such as acetic acid, acetone, and large amounts of gas (CO2 and H2). This gas is the cause of the “crackling” or crepitus that the patient felt when he pressed against his skin. The odor he smelled comes from the variety of compounds that are formed during the fermentation of fatty acids and amino …show more content…
Because the patient was diagnosed quickly, amputation was not necessary. The patient is not allergic to penicillin so that along with clindamycin was given intravenously. Surgery was quickly needed to remove dead, damaged, and infected tissue. The doctors also used maggot therapy to help with some of the debridement. When used to treat gangrene, maggots specially bred in a laboratory so they are sterile, are placed on the wound, where they consume the dead and infected tissue without harming healthy tissue. They also help fight infection and speed up healing by releasing substances that kill bacteria. Because Clostridia are anaerobic, they thrive in low-oxygen environments. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy stops toxin production and inhibits bacteria from replicating and spreading by creating an oxygen rich environment. During treatment, the patient is put in a specially designed chamber filled with oxygen at a higher pressure than oxygen found in the outside air. Hyperbaric oxygen may also boost the effect of antibiotics, enhance the body’s natural defenses against bacteria, and help resolve or delay the onset of sepsis, a deadly blood poisoning.
The patient was kept in the hospital for two weeks after the treatment was completed to ensure that the gas gangrene would not return. Suggs responded very well to all of the treatment and had a full recovery. He no longer suffers from