Necrotising fasciitis is a bacterial infection of the deep tissues. It makes the skin turn red/purple/black in colour and also causes blistering.
What does necrotizing fasciitis look like?
Necrotising fasciitis is an aggressive bacterial infection of the body’s deep tissues and connective tissue (fascia). Although the infection arises in the deep tissues, it does produce visible changes on the surface of the skin.
Firstly, the skin above the site of infection will turn red in colour. It will also be hot to touch. The redness will become increasingly dark in colour, eventually turning purple and black. Additionally a patient may have blisters on the skin which will be filled with ‘dishwater’ fluid. Medically these are called ‘bullae’.
When the skin turns black, it is an indicator that the tissue has become necrotic or died. At this point the tissue will begin to disintegrate, leaving an open wound in its place. This will become increasingly large the longer the infection continues. This makes it look as though the flesh is being eaten, although this is not actually true.
Rather than being eaten, the tissue is being damaged by a chemical released by the bacteria. This disrupts the blood flow, leaving the tissue ischaemic (meaning deficient in oxygen). This damages the tissue even further, causing tissue necrosis (death). Even so, it does give the appearance of being eaten, which is why necrotising fasciitis is often dubbed ‘the flesh-eating disease’.
Diagnosing necrotising fasciitis
The visible changes to the skin should tell medical practitioners that a patient has a tissue infection. The patient will also be displaying other clinical signs which indicate an infection, including:
- Fever
- Raised white blood cell count
- Raised C-Reactive protein
- Low blood pressure
- Severe pain at the site of infection
These symptoms should prompt clinicians to investigate the possibility of a deep tissue infection. A diagnosis can be confirmed or ruled out with investigative surgery.
Failure to spot necrotizing fasciitis
If medical practitioners fail to spot the clinical signs of necrotising fasciitis, resulting in a delayed diagnosis, the standard of care will be considered negligent. It is likely that this will have caused a patient to suffer wrongful complications. If so, there will be a case of medical negligence.
To find out if you can claim for medical negligence, please contact us today. We help victims of necrotising fasciitis medical negligence claim compensation for they have damages incurred.
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