Johns Hopkins ABX Guide
Gas Gangrene
PATHOGENS
Common clostridial species causing gas gangrene:
- Clostridium perfringens
- Most commonly identified organism.
- Gram-positive anaerobic rod [Fig 1]
- Produces > 20 exotoxins, including lethal Alpha and Beta toxins that cause necrosis and hemolysis.
- Also an agent of food poisoning.
- Most commonly identified organism.
- Clostridium novyi
- Clostridium septicum
- Clostridium histolyticum
- Clostridium sordellii (seen with toxic shock after childbirth, users of contaminated heroin injections and patients with malignancy)
- A review of spontaneous C. sordelli-associated gas gangrene found that known or occult malignancy was seen in 71% of the 94 patients in the literature; overall mortality was 67%[6].
There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.
Last updated: May 8, 2023
Citation
Auwaerter, Paul G. "Gas Gangrene." Johns Hopkins ABX Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2023. Pediatrics Central, peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540239/1/Gas_Gangrene.
Auwaerter PG. Gas Gangrene. Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2023. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540239/1/Gas_Gangrene. Accessed December 28, 2024.
Auwaerter, P. G. (2023). Gas Gangrene. In Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540239/1/Gas_Gangrene
Auwaerter PG. Gas Gangrene [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2023. [cited 2024 December 28]. Available from: https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540239/1/Gas_Gangrene.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Gas Gangrene
ID - 540239
A1 - Auwaerter,Paul,M.D.
Y1 - 2023/05/08/
BT - Johns Hopkins ABX Guide
UR - https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540239/1/Gas_Gangrene
PB - The Johns Hopkins University
DB - Pediatrics Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -
