FOURNIER’S GANGRENE: EXPERIENCE WITH TWO SEVERE CASES

Abstract

Fournier’s Gangrene is a formidable rare disease characterized by high mortality rates despite optimal medical and surgical management. It is an acute surgical emergency and requires a high degree of suspicion. The mainstay of treatment is swift open drainage and early aggressive surgical debridement of all necrotic tissue, followed by targeted antibiotic therapy. The authors report on two patients who were admitted to the surgical ward. Both presented with initial perianal sepsis complicated by painful swollen scrotum with rapid progression of gangrene of the scrotal skin and subcutaneous tissue, extensive cellulitis of the perineum, and in one patient crepitation of the anterior abdominal wall. A diagnosis of Fournier’s Gangrene was made and they were both managed by prompt resuscitation, broad-spectrum antibiotics, extensive debridement of all necrotic tissue in theatre, daily wound dressing, and repeated neurectomy on the ward. One of the patients had a colostomy done and the other a cystostomy to divert feces and relieve chronic urinary retention respectively. These patients were successfully treated despite the severity of their conditions which was complicated by severe sepsis in the face of limited diagnostic capabilities and resources, using a multidisciplinary approach and basic clinical monitoring as a guide.