If you attend A&E with symptoms of necrotising fasciitis, you need a rapid diagnosis and immediate treatment if you are going to avoid a very poor outcome indeed.
What is necrotising fasciitis?
Necrotising fasciitis is a severe bacterial infection of the body’s deep soft tissue. Undiagnosed and untreated, it will spread through the body causing tissue to die. This can soon start to impact on the major organs, causing multiple organ failure and death.
Symptoms of necrotising fasciitis
You may have been prompted to attend Accident & Emergency by a collection of visible, physical symptoms. It is quite likely that you have an injury or wound somewhere on the body and you have noticed that it is becoming extremely uncomfortable. You may exhibit the following symptoms:
- Intense pain around an injury which seems to be disproportionate to the nature of the injury
- Redness and swelling around the area of the wound
- Tenderness of the skin around the wound when touched
An injury which facilitates the development of necrotising fasciitis does not necessarily need to be large. Whilst a surgical wound may allow bacteria to access the deep tissue of the body, necrotising fasciitis can also enter the body through a small cut or graze or an injection site.
You may also be starting to feel extremely unwell beyond the pain around your wound.
Attending A&E
If you attend A&E with the wound symptoms mentioned above, it is important that your other physical symptoms are also taken into account. It is possible that you are starting to experience signs of a severe infection such as a high temperature or chills, a fast heartbeat and rapid breathing.
Your blood pressure should also be checked as this may be dropping and is a sign that you are becoming severely unwell.
Suspicion of necrotising fasciitis
If necrotising fasciitis is suspected, it will not be clear, at this stage, what form of bacteria is causing you to be ill. Necrotising fasciitis can be caused by a wide variety of bacteria and is frequently the product of more than one.
It is likely that blood samples will be taken in order to try to clarify the underlying cause so that it can be targeted precisely. In the meantime, you may be put on broad-spectrum antibiotics to help the body fight the infection.
In the meantime, the advice of specialists should be sought urgently. If there is a strong suspicion that you have necrotising fasciitis, you will need to begin surgical debridement of the affected area as a matter of emergency.
Emergency treatment
The term debridement refers to the surgical removal of dead and infected tissue. This is necessary to remove the infection. It may even be necessary to confirm that you actually suffering with this appalling illness.
What is key is that the process begins without delay. The longer surgery is delayed, the more the infection is likely to have spread. This will have a number of results:
- You are likely to suffer more physical damage as the infection spreads
- Your organs are more likely to be damaged, risking your life
- You are likely to require more extensive surgical debridement because the area affected has increased
- If you survive, you are likely to require more cosmetic surgery to repair the damage of both the infection and the debridement
- You are likely to take longer to recover and need to stay in hospital for a greater period of time.
Medical negligence
Necrotising fasciitis is not always easy to diagnose and can be confused with other conditions. It is fairly rare and many medical practitioners may not expect to see it. It is possible, therefore, that the possible severity of your condition may be missed.
If your symptoms are not recognised or investigated, meaning that your long-term outcome is significantly worse than might otherwise have been the case, the A&E practitioners may be considered to have acted negligently.
If specialist advice is not sought and your treatment is therefore delayed, you may be considered to have received substandard care.
The outcome for the patient can be life-changing, threatening their mobility and continence and ability to work and live independently.
Speak to a solicitor
If you or a loved one have suffered the appalling consequences of necrotising fasciitis due to a failure to respond appropriately to your symptoms, call us now to talk to a specialist medical negligence solicitor.
It may be appropriate to make a claim for compensation.
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