Clinical features and prognosis of patients with vibrio necrotizing fasciitis

Objective To investigate clinical features,treatments and prognostic factors of the patients with necrotizing fasciitis caused by vibrio infections and thus provide reference for the early treatment and prognostic assessment.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 56 patients with vibrio necrotizing fasciitis admitted to the emergency center of our hospital from May 1995 to June 2011.The clinical characteristics and treatments of the patients were summarized,and differences of clinical factors between the survival group and death group were compared.The possible influencing factors for prognosis were also analyzed.Results The main clinical manifestations included fever (61％),shock (84％) and organ dysfunction,of which renal insufficiency (88％) was the most common,with case fatality of 43％.Early pathological changes of limbs were only local swelling and pain,while skin ecchymosis,tension blood blisters,necrosis and subcutaneous crepitation were the signs of advanced stage.Comprehensive treatment regime including early administration of sensitive antibiotics plus surgical incision and drainage and medicine support was given.A series of factors were significantly different between the survival and death groups including the duration from the presentation of symptoms to hospital admission (P ＜ 0.05 ),limb lesions involving the trunk (P ＜ 0.01 ),creatine kinase level (P ＜ 0.05 ),and emergency incision and drainage ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions The most prominent clinical manifestations of vibrio necrotizing fasciitis are rapidly progressive local symptoms and signs,and sharp deterioration of systemic conditions.Delayed visiting,severe local lesions,and failure to emergency surgery may be the factors for poor prognosis. Key words: Vibrio infections; Fasciitis,necrotizing; Prognosis