Necrotising fasciitis is a severe, life-threatening infection which can travel through the body’s deep tissue at speed, destroying all in its path and risking the patient’s limbs and life. It is a challenge to the medical professionals who encounter it.
Diagnosis of necrotising fasciitis
One of the initial challenges of necrotising fasciitis is to make a diagnosis of this appalling illness.
Although necrotising fasciitis usually requires the bacteria on the outside of the body to have a portal through which they can travel to the deep, inner tissue, such a cut or wound is not always obvious.
The medical professional needs to assess the presenting symptoms such as extreme pain, with redness, swelling and tenderness in the same area. These symptoms can, however, indicate an alternative condition such as Cellulitis or Deep Vein Thrombosis.
Because there can be uncertainty in the diagnosis and yet a misdiagnosis can prove fatal, it is far better to act on the suspicion of necrotising fasciitis in order to rule it out rather than risk the patient’s life.
Necrotising fasciitis has a high associated mortality rate and erring on the side of caution must surely be the best way forward.
Surgical debridement
The second challenge is to provide the patient with the most prompt and effective treatment.
A delay in treatment will inevitably mean a deterioration in the health and prognosis of the patient and yet treatment for necrotising fasciitis usually means the surgical removal of tissue, not a course of action undertaken lightly.
Also vitally important is the need for the surgical debridement to be as comprehensive as possible. If initial debridement procedures do not remove all infected tissue, the patient will have to undergo further surgical treatment, with all the associated risks.
Such a scenario again extends the period of time over which the infection can continue to develop.
Managing the patient
A patient with necrotising fasciitis will already be under severe physical stress. The surgical treatment required to try to combat this shocking condition will add significantly to that strain. Where the spread of the infection is such as to require the amputation of a limb, the body will suffer still further.
Throughout this experience the patient will require considerable life-support in an intensive care unit to help maintain the body’s functions and the life of the patient.
Medical negligence
Where the diagnosis and treatment of a patient with necrotising fasciitis is delayed, leaving the patient with a significantly worse outcome, the relevant medical professionals may be considered to have provided a substandard level of care.
In these circumstances, it may be appropriate to make a claim for compensation.
We have supported numerous successful claim for negligence related to necrotising fasciitis. Why not ring us today to discuss your experience with a specialist medical negligence solicitor?
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