[Contribution of linezolid to the treatment of complicated infections of the skin and soft tissues].

THREE GROUPS OF INCREASING SEVERITY: According to the 2000 consensus conference, bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues can be classified in three categories of increasing severity: bacterial dermo-hypodermal infections, bacterial dermo-hypodermal necrotizing infections, necrotizing fasciitis. The last two categories are medicosurgical emergency conditions requiring repeated surgical debridement and probabilistic antibiotic therapy. LINEZOLID: The clinical efficacy of linezolid in bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues is comparable to that of oxacillin/dicloxacillin. Several arguments (frequent implication of Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, well-adapted spectrum, changing resistance pattern of Gram-positive cocci, efficacy against associated bacteriemia, favorable kinetics and diffusion data in cutaneous tissues) argue in favor of the use of linezolid in infections of the skin and soft tissues