How many people have gangrene

If your immune system is seriously weakened, minor infections can become more serious and can lead to gangrene. A weak immune system can be caused by:. However, for reasons that are unclear, gangrene can sometimes occur in young and otherwise healthy people. Page last reviewed: 16 August Next review due: 16 August Types of gangrene There are several different types of gangrene, each with a different cause. The main types are: dry gangrene — where the blood flow to an area of the body becomes blocked wet gangrene — caused by a combination of an injury and bacterial infection gas gangrene — where an infection develops deep inside the body and the bacteria responsible begin releasing gas necrotising fasciitis — caused by a serious bacterial infection that spreads quickly through the deeper layers of skin and tissue internal gangrene — where the blood flow to an internal organ, usually the intestines, gallbladder or appendix, becomes blocked Who's most at risk?

Conditions affecting the blood vessels Conditions that can affect the blood vessels and increase your risk of developing gangrene include: diabetes — a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high, which can damage nerves and blood vessels see below atherosclerosis — where arteries narrow and become clogged with a fatty substance known as plaque peripheral arterial disease — where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles Raynaud's — where blood vessels in certain parts of the body, usually the fingers or toes, react abnormally to cold temperatures As blood vessels are naturally narrow, any damage or extra narrowing has the potential to block blood flow to a part of the body and cause gangrene.

Penectomy has been reported for penile gangrene [ Chiang et al. The prognosis of gangrene is highly dependent on early detection of its clinical manifestations, diagnosis and institution of appropriate treatment. Early detection of clinical manifestations of gangrene remains a challenge to healthcare providers due to limited resources. There was therefore a need to document the practical clinical manifestations of gangrene in South-Western Uganda so that evidence based data-base could be generated for use in gangrene diagnosis with the ultimate goal of improving the current capacity to diagnose gangrene in resource limited settings.

In this chapter, we therefore focused on how gangrene manifests in South-Western Ugandan communities. In this chapter, we documented the clinical presentations of gangrene in medical records of patients who were diagnosed and managed for gangrene in South Western Uganda from May to April Ultimately, this chapter was aimed at alerting health-workers on how gangrene manifests in our practice area and helping promotion of its early diagnosis. This information shall hopefully open new grounds for further research on how patients with gangrene present to healthcare institutions and promote health education that can lead to reduction in the prevalence of gangrene.

The biggest hospital in each of the three Districs were chosen because they receive the highest number of patients in each of the Districts. These sites were carefully selected to represent the varied diversities present in the region. Also, they were selected because they provide free medical healthcare services and they are patronized by many members of the community.

They also receive referrals from lower government owned and private healthcare units. In addition, KIUTH is one of the major referral centers in the region that receives patients directly from her community and referrals from many healthcare units within and outside the western region, including neighboring countries like Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Research and Ethics Committee of Kampala International University before the study was commenced. Permission to access the files of patients was sought and obtained from the heads of each health facility used.

Medical records of all patients diagnosed to have gangrene within the selected health facilities from May to April were used for the study. Data sheets were designed and used for the study. The research instruments were designed for collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. The data collected included variables like age, sex, education level, occupation, complaints, duration of complaints and treatment received before visiting healthcare facility.

Others included type of gangrene and disclosure of diagnosis to patients by hospital staff. All data collection procedures were done by members of the research team. At the end of each data collection session, all members of the research team met to review and resolve challenges encountered during the data collection process.

The final data were manually entered into Microsoft Excel package for data analysis. There were 9 cases of dry gangrene and 13 were wet gangrene. Details of the results are displayed in the tables below. The highest percentage Table 2 above shows that more males Table 3 above shows that there were more cases of wet gangrene in the communities studied. Table 4 above shows that most patients The next age was those between 50 and 59 years The age distribution of patients affected by gangrene is presented in Figure 1 below.

It gives a pictorial view of the age distribution of patients that bear the burden of gangrene. Histogram of Age distribution of patients with gangrene. Table 6 above shows the main complaints that patients with gangrene reported at the time of visiting the healthcare units. Pain was the commonest complaint The 3 patients 6. Disclosure of information regarding the diagnosis by healthcare workers to the patients was noted to be very encouraging.

This study revealed that most patients The figures are shown clearly in Table 9 above. Table 10 above shows that majority The diagnosis of gangrene is made by clinicians in our community, but there is a lot of under-recording in health records. This has made gangrene not to occupy a prominent position in health reports from Uganda and other parts of the world. It is believed that the situation is similar in many other African countries and beyond.

The reality of gangrene only becomes manifest when patients with superficial or peripheral gangrene manifestations are faced with the option of giving informed consent for amputation. This is usually a very challenging moment for patients and their close relatives.

In some cases, there is delay in instituting the definitive care i. One such complication is stump wound infection.

Obalum and Okeke reported Dry gangrene usually starts with a red line around the affected area. This area then turns dry and black. The earlier gangrene is treated, the more successful the treatment is likely to be.

So if you have any of the above symptoms, seek immediate medical attention. If you have symptoms of gangrene, your healthcare team will give you a physical exam to check for signs of tissue death. They may also ask you about any chronic health conditions you have that could be linked to the gangrene. Your healthcare provider may also want to do lab tests to check for gangrene.

A higher than normal amount of white blood cells, for example, can mean you have an infection. Your healthcare provider may take samples of tissue or fluid from the affected area and look at in the lab.

If your healthcare provider thinks you may have internal gangrene, he or she may order imaging tests or surgery to find out for sure. Because gangrene can spread rapidly over a large area of the body, the amount of dead tissue can be quite large.

Treating these large areas may result in:. You can help prevent gangrene by carefully watching any wounds you have and getting immediate attention if signs of infection develop. Gangrene is a medical emergency. The outlook with gangrene depends on the location and size of the affected area, as well as any other medical conditions you might have.

Gangrene is often life-threatening, so immediate medical care is crucial. Health Home Conditions and Diseases. Gangrene comes in 2 forms, dry and wet: Dry gangrene occurs when the blood supply to tissue is cut off. The area becomes dry, shrinks, and turns black. Wet gangrene. Gangrene is referred to as wet if there's a bacterial infection in the affected tissue. Swelling, blistering and a wet appearance are common features of wet gangrene. Wet gangrene may develop after a severe burn, frostbite or injury.

It often occurs in people with diabetes who unknowingly injure a toe or foot. Wet gangrene needs to be treated immediately because it spreads quickly and can be deadly.

Gas gangrene. Gas gangrene typically affects deep muscle tissue. If you have gas gangrene, the surface of your skin may look normal at first. As the condition worsens, your skin may become pale and then turn gray or purplish red.

The skin may look bubbly and may make a crackling sound when you press on it because of the gas within the tissue. Gas gangrene is most commonly caused by infection with a bacterium called Clostridium perfringens. Bacteria gather in an injury or surgical wound that has no blood supply. The bacterial infection produces toxins that release gas and cause tissue death.

Like wet gangrene, gas gangrene is a life-threatening condition. Internal gangrene.