Dose-Response (Oct 2012)

The Role of X-Rays in the Treatment of Gas Gangrene: A Historical Assessment

  • Edward J. Calabrese,
  • Gaurav Dhawan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2203/dose-response.12-016.calabrese
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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While the use of x-rays to treat patients with gas gangrene ended in the early 1940's with the advent of antibiotics, x-ray had been widely accepted as a useful and highly effective treatment for this condition. The present paper re-assesses the historical foundations of this belief, the quality of the data, use of confirmatory animal models, and underlying mechanisms that might account for the therapeutic role of x-rays in the treatment of gas gangrene.