J Korean Surg Soc.
2006 Sep;71(3):234-237.
Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Chest Wall Complicating Acupuncture
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Forensic Medicine, Seoul National University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. animus70@snu.ac.kr
- 2Department of Radiology, The Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Bundang, Korea.
Abstract
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A 20-year-old man developed necrotizing fasciitis of the left chest wall complicating acupuncture. Necrotizing fasciitis is a highly morbid soft tissue infection that rarely involves the upper torso. In the past, there has been few report on necrotizing fasciitis complicating acupunture in the English literature (based on a MEDLINE search covering 1966 to 2005). We present this extremely unusual case of a patient after taking acupuncture who survived severe necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall following wide debridement of the necrotic tissue and broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy.