Upper Limb Compartment Syndrome-An Extremely Rare Life-Threatening Complication of Cutaneous Anthrax

(1) Background: Cutaneous anthrax is a disease caused by a Gram-positive bacillus, spore-forming (BA). Cutaneous anthrax accounts for 95% of all anthrax cases, with mortality between 10-40% in untreated forms. The most feared complication, which can be life-threatening and is rarely encountered and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2024-06, Vol.12 (6), p.1240
Main Authors: Pertea, Mihaela, Luca, Stefana, Moraru, Dan Cristian, Veliceasa, Bogdan, Filip, Alexandru, Grosu, Oxana Madalina, Poroch, Vladimir, Panuta, Andrian, Luca, Catalina Mihaela, Avadanei, Andrei Nicolae, Lunca, Sorinel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Anthrax
Antibiotics
Cattle
Compartment syndrome
cutaneous anthrax
Decompression
Emergency medical care
General anesthesia
Gram-positive bacilli
Hospitals
Infections
Infectious diseases
Intubation
Meta-analysis
Mortality
Online databases
Penicillin G
Plastic surgery
Reptiles & amphibians
Sepsis
Skin
surgery
Systematic review
Thorax
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Summary:(1) Background: Cutaneous anthrax is a disease caused by a Gram-positive bacillus, spore-forming (BA). Cutaneous anthrax accounts for 95% of all anthrax cases, with mortality between 10-40% in untreated forms. The most feared complication, which can be life-threatening and is rarely encountered and described in the literature, is compartment syndrome. (2) Methods: We report a series of six cases of cutaneous anthrax from the same endemic area. In two of the cases, the disease was complicated by compartment syndrome. The systematic review was conducted according to systematic review guidelines, and the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases were searched for publications from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2023. The keywords used were: "cutaneous anthrax" and "compartment syndrome by cutaneous anthrax". (3) Results: For compartment syndrome, emergency surgical intervention for decompression was required, along with another three surgeries, with hospitalization between 21 and 23 days. In the systematic review, among the 37 articles, 29 did not contain cases focusing on compartment syndrome of the thoracic limb in cutaneous anthrax. The results were included in a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram. (4) Conclusions: Early recognition of the characteristic cutaneous lesions and compartment syndrome with early initiation of antibiotics and urgent surgical treatment is the lifesaving solution.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms12061240