Necrotizing fasciitis. Possible profiles of professional liability with reference to two cases.

ABSTRACT

Necrotizing fasciitis is one of the most dangerous complication of an abscess and it is still a disease with a high mortality. In this work, we decided to consider two cases the first one concerns a male subject, aged 66, deceased because of a fatal necrotizing fasciitis associated to a cervical descending mediastinitis, which evolved from a primary peritonsillar abscess; the second is about a 50-year-old woman with a perineal abscess, then evolved into necrotizing fasciitis associated to a fatal septis shock. After a systematic consideration of necrotizing fasciitis as pathology and an analysis of the possible related risks to a diagnostic or therapeutic delay, we analyzed the particular history of both cases to underline the possible critical issues in professional behavior of the medical staff intervened. KEY WORDS Abscess, Medical malpractice, Mortality, Necrotizing fasciitis, Professional liability.