[Acute dermal gangrene: a postoperative complication. With an example from obstetrics].

In the anglo-american literature the acute dermal gangrene is characterized as a cutaneous syndrome of infectious etiology which is usually leading--postoperatively or after an injury--to necrotizing destructions of the cutis, subcutis, subcutaneous fat, fascia or muscle. Depending on the localization of the involved tissue a superficial progressive bacterial gangrene is distinguished from a more deeply localized necrotizing fasciitis. Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations of these extremely rare syndromes are described in connection with an obstetric case which has been seen by us recently.