Gangrene
- Gangrene Overview
- Gangrene Causes
- Gangrene Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
- Gangrene Treatment
- Medical Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Therapy
- Next Steps
- Follow-Up
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Gangrene Overview
Gangrene is a medical term used to describe the death of an area of the body. It develops when the blood supply is cut off to the affected part as a result of various processes, such as infection, vascular (pertaining to blood vessels) disease, or trauma. Gangrene can involve any part of the body; the most common sites include the toes, fingers, feet, and hands.
Two major types of gangrene exist:
- Dry gangrene is caused by a reduction of blood flow
through the arteries. It appears gradually and progresses slowly. In most
people, the affected part does not become infected. In this type of gangrene,
the tissue becomes cold and black, begins to dry, and eventually sloughs off. Dry gangrene is commonly seen in people with blockage of arteries (arteriosclerosis) resulting from increased cholesterol levels, diabetes, cigarette smoking,
and genetic and other factors.
- Wet or moist gangrene develops as a complication of
an untreated infected wound. Swelling resulting from the bacterial infection
causes a sudden stoppage of blood flow. Cessation of blood flow facilitates
invasion of the muscles by the bacteria and multiplication of the bacteria
because disease-fighting cells (white blood cells) cannot reach the affected
part.
- Gas gangrene is a type of wet gangrene caused by the bacteria known as Clostridia. Clostridia are a type of infection-causing bacteria that grow only in the absence of oxygen. As Clostridia grow, they produce poisonous toxins and gas; therefore, the condition is called gas gangrene.
Next: Gangrene Causes »
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Gangrene
Peripheral Vascular Disease Overview
The circulatory system consists of 2 types of blood vessels: arteries and veins. These are tubular structures that carry the blood throughout the body.
- Arteries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood from the heart to the organs and cells.
- Veins carry oxygen-depleted blood and wastes through the kidneys, liver, and lungs, where wastes are filtered out and removed from the body. The venous blood is then again filled with oxygen in the lungs and returned back to the heart.
- The 2 are interconnected by small weblike vessels called capillaries.
- Although the term peripheral vascular disease can include any disorder that affects any of the blood vessels, it often is u...
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Fournier Gangrene »
In 1883, the French venereologist Jean Alfred Fournier described a series in which 5 previously healthy young men suffered from a rapidly progressive gangrene of the penis and scrotum without apparent cause.
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