1Assistant Professor of Medicine, University Of North Dakota, Fargo, ND, USA
2Caribbean Medical School, Chicago Campus, Chicago, USA
3Methodist Charlton Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA
American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
2015,
Vol. 3 No. 9, 286-287
DOI: 10.12691/ajmcr-3-9-6
Copyright © 2015 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Lakshmi Kant Pathak, Vimala Vijayaraghavan, Nataliya Ana Wilson. Symmetrical Peripheral Gangrene, a Serious Complication of Sepsis.
American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2015; 3(9):286-287. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-3-9-6.
Correspondence to: Lakshmi Kant Pathak, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University Of North Dakota, Fargo, ND, USA. Email:
drpathaklk@gmail.comAbstract
Symmetrical peripheral gangrene (SPG) is a rare but devastating complication of septicemia, with a high mortality rate. About half of the patients who survive require amputation of the affected limb. The common etiologies include both infective and non-infective etiologies. Aggravating factors include asplenia, immunosuppression, and previous cold injury to extremities, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, increased sympathetic tone and use of vasopressors. [1] SPG is defined as symmetrical distal ischemic damage at two or more sites in the absence of large vessel obstruction or vasculitis, sometimes used synonymously as purpura fulminans. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and hemorrhagic infarction of skin with uninvolved proximal arteries are hallmark of this condition [2].
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