Non Clostridial Gas Gangrene Leading to Stroke in Postoperative PeriodA Case Report

Abstract

Gas gangrene is a life threatening infection of muscles and soft tissues which is associated with very high mortality rate. Non clostridial gas gangrene is a rare phenomenon that mostly occurs in diabetic patients. Gas gangrene leads to various systemic manifestations. A 66-year-old female patient, diabetic with chronic kidney disease, on haemodialysis was presented as a rare case of non clostridial right great toe gas gangrene, which progressed to systemic toxicity and stroke within a period of 72 hours in postoperative period. The source of infection in this case may have been Acinetobacter which is a gram-negative bacterium. Despite prompt diagnosis and intensive therapy, the patient died 15 days after the operation. After going through literature, no case was found to be reported of stroke in postoperative period due to non clostridial gas gangrene thus making it a unique case to report. Also, only few cases of life threatening non clostridial gas gangrene are reported in literature.

Keywords

• chronic kidney disease
• diabetes
• mortality
• systemic toxicity