Fournier gangrene. Approaches to diagnosis and treatment

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors associated with patients with Fournier's gangrene, and to clarify the effect of diabetes mellitus (DM) as a comorbid disease on morbidity and mortality of patients with Fournier's gangrene.

METHODS: Twenty-six Fournier's gangrene patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department of Ankara Numune Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey from 1997 to 2003 were examined retrospectively.

RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 52.8 years. There were 8 female (30.8%) and 18 male (69.2%) patients. The etiological causes were as follows: diseases of the perianal region, history of operations, trauma and injections. Major comorbid disease states were diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension. The lesions in Fournier's gangrene were most commonly located in the perineum and genital region. Female patients with diabetes mellitus had significantly unusual extensive involvement, especially abdominal wall involvement. The most frequently isolated pathogen was Escherichia coli, while staphylococcal infection was most commonly seen in the presence of DM. Colostomy was performed on 53.8% of the patients, and cystostomy on 7.6% of the patients. Average time of staying at the hospital was 25 days with a mortality rate of 34.6%. Patients with DM had high mortality rates and stayed longer at the hospital than the non-diabetic patients.

CONCLUSION: In addition to early diagnosis, early and aggressive debridement and administration of multiple wide spectrum antibiotics chosen for the causative agent are the golden standard for decreasing the mortality and morbidity. Diabetes mellitus has been found to be an important factor to increase mortality rates of patients with Fournier's gangrene.