TAMING THE SRU
TAMING THE SRU - By Logan Ramsés - August 23, 2021
SUMMARY
Necrotizing soft tissue infection is a rare, aggressive, and life-threatening disease with high mortality unless extensive surgical intervention is performed. Diagnosis can be challenging in the emergency department due to similarity to more innocuous infections such as cellulitis, but NSTI should be suspected in the case of pain out of proportion to exam, crepitus, bullae, or signs of systemic illness. Diagnosis in the ED is primarily clinical, but diagnostic imaging such as CT scan and ultrasound can be helpful, and the final diagnosis is made after surgical debridement. The mainstays of NSTI treatment in the ED are early surgical consultation and empiric antibiotic therapy for gram positive, gram negative, and anaerobic bacteria. Catfish-associated infections, including NSTI, have been reported in the literature and can be life-threatening.