Gas gangrene is a bacterial infection that produces gas within tissues in gangrene. It is a deadly form of gangrene usually caused by Clostridium bacteria. It is a medical emergency. Kingdoms/Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ... A gas is one of the four main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma), that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... Biological tissue is a substance made up of cells that perform a similar function. ... This article contains photographs that some people may find disturbing. ... Species Clostridium acetobutylicum Clostridium aerotolerans Clostridium botulinum Clostridium colicanis Clostridium difficile Clostridium formicaceticum Clostridium novyi Clostridium perfringens Clostridium tetani Clostridium is a genus of Gram positive anaerobic spore-forming bacteria. ... A medical emergency is an injury or illness that poses an immediate threat to a persons health or life which requires help from a doctor or hospital. ...

Features

Gas gangrene can cause myonecrosis, gas production, and sepsis. Progression to toxemia and shock is often very rapid. Sepsis (in Greek Σήψις, putrefaction) is a serious medical condition caused by a severe infection. ... Toxemia is another term for blood poisoning, or the presence in the bloodstream of quantities of bacteria or bacterial toxins sufficient to cause serious illness. ... In medicine, shock (hypoperfusion) is a life-threatening medical emergency characterized by inability of the body to supply enough oxygen to meet tissue requirements. ...

Pathophysiology

Gas gangrene is caused by exotoxin producing clostridial species (most often Clostridium perfringens), which is mostly found in soil, and other anaerobes (e.g. Bacteroides and anaerobic streptococci). These environmental bacteria may enter the muscle through a wound and go on to proliferate in necrotic tissue and secrete powerful toxins. These toxins destroy nearby tissue, generating gas at the same time. A gas composition of 5.9% hydrogen, 3.4% carbon dioxide, 74.5% nitrogen and 16.1% oxygen was reported in one clinical case.^[1] An exotoxin is a soluble chemical excreted by a microorganism, including bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. ... Species Clostridium acetobutylicum Clostridium aerotolerans Clostridium botulinum Clostridium colicanis Clostridium difficile Clostridium formicaceticum Clostridium novyi Clostridium perfringens Clostridium tetani Clostridium is a genus of Gram positive anaerobic spore-forming bacteria. ... Binomial name Clostridium perfringens Clostridium perfringens is a bacterium of the genus Clostridium. ... An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen. ...

Treatment

Treatment is usually surgical debridement and excision with amputation necessary in many cases. Antibiotics alone are not effective because they don't penetrate ischemic muscles enough to be effective. However penicillin is given as an adjuvant treatment to surgery. In addition to surgery and antibiotics hyperbaric oxygentherapy (HBO) is used and acts to inhibit the growth of and kill the anaerobic C. perfringens. Debridement is a surgical term referring to the surgical removal of infected or otherwise non-viable tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. ... Excision means to remove as if by cutting. It can be a euphemism for Female circumcision. ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... In medicine, ischemia (Greek ισχαιμία, isch- is restriction, hema or haema is blood) is a restriction in blood supply, generally due to factors in the blood vessels, with resultant damage or dysfunction of tissue. ... A top-down view of skeletal muscle Muscle is a contractile form of tissue. ...

References

1. ^ Chi CH, Chen KW, Huang JJ, Chuang YC, Wu MH (1995). Gas composition in Clostridium septicum gas gangrene. J Formos Med Assoc 94 (12): 757-9. PMID 8541740