Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS
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J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg · Dec 2012
Case ReportsNecrotising fasciitis of the thigh secondary to colonic perforation: the femoral canal as a route for infective spread.
A 57 year-old man with a history of corticosteroid use presented with abdominal pain and diarrhoea. He was initially treated for presumed Clostridium difficile colitis, but later developed a left inguinal mass with spreading erythema. A CT scan showed gas within the retroperitoneal tissues, with surgical emphysema of the left groin. ⋯ The femoral vein was covered in infected fascia in the femoral canal, and a laparotomy revealed a posterior perforation of the sigmoid colon. Necrotising fasciitis of the thigh is a rare complication of colonic perforation. Our case highlights the femoral canal as a potential channel for the spread of intra-abdominal infection into the thigh.