Diagnosis and misdiagnosis of necrotizing soft tissue infections: three case reports.

BACKGROUND

Today, gas gangrene is rare, but still many of the patients die, despite having received timely treatment.

CASE PRESENTATION: This report highlights the cases of three different patients, who were transferred to our surgical department in 2006. The first patient (Patient_A), with the suspected diagnosis "femoral hematoma", a second patient (Patient_B) because of an "acute abdomen" and the third patient (Patient_C) with suspected gas gangrene of the right leg.

CONCLUSION

The first two cases demonstrate gas gangrene should always be kept in mind, especially in high-risk-patients. Though, the third case shows that severe consequences because of a precipitate diagnosis can be avoided by careful evaluation.