[Necrotising fasciitis of the hand--a rare, highly dramatic clinical entity].

The necrotising fasciitis (NF) is a rare syndrome in hand surgery which is characterized by a severe course of the illness. Different kinds of bacterial species are responsible for the pathogenetic origin of the NF. As NF can be life-threatening for the patient, immediate surgical and systemic treatment must begin as soon as there is the slightest clinical suspicion. We report about two patients with NF of the hand, whereby the patients' lives were saved by radical, serial debridements, intensive medical therapy and selective antibiotic treatment.