Finger Test for the Diagnosis of a Critically Ill Patient with Necrotizing Fasciitis

Autor: Dimitri Livshits, Brenda Sokup, Robert Farrell, Jordan Jeong
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of emergency medicine. 63(1)
ISSN: 0736-4679
Popis: Necrotizing fasciitis is a life-threatening soft-tissue infection, often characterized by soft-tissue destruction, systemic toxicity, and high mortality. No single laboratory value can diagnose necrotizing fasciitis; ultimately, necrotizing fasciitis is a clinical diagnosis and therefore presents a diagnostic dilemma for many physicians. The finger probe test is useful in confirming the diagnosis when imaging studies are unobtainable or nondiagnostic.We present the case of a 70-year-old woman presenting nonverbal and obtunded with a soft-tissue infection of the right lower extremity. The only pertinent positive vital sign was tachypnea with a respiratory rate of 22 breaths/min. Physical examination revealed nonpitting edema, cold-to-touch lower extremity, and Nikolsky-positive hemorrhagic bullae. Initial laboratory test results showed white blood cell count of 38 x 10
Databáze: OpenAIRE