Primary gas gangrene of the pancreas: report of a case

Spontaneous gas gangrene of the pancreas, caused by an infection of Clostridium perfringens, is an extremely rare but severe form of acute pancreatitis. A 67-year-old man complaining of severe epigastric pain with diffuse guarding underwent an emergency laparotomy. During surgery, hemorrhagic pancre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Surgery today (Tokyo, Japan) Japan), 2004, Vol.34 (1), p.80-81
Main Authors: Ikegami, Toru, Kido, Akinori, Shimokawa, Hidehiko, Ishida, Teruyoshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Aged
Clostridium perfringens - isolation & purification
Gas Gangrene - diagnostic imaging
Gas Gangrene - microbiology
Gas Gangrene - surgery
Humans
Male
Pancreatitis - diagnostic imaging
Pancreatitis - microbiology
Pancreatitis - surgery
Radiography
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Summary:Spontaneous gas gangrene of the pancreas, caused by an infection of Clostridium perfringens, is an extremely rare but severe form of acute pancreatitis. A 67-year-old man complaining of severe epigastric pain with diffuse guarding underwent an emergency laparotomy. During surgery, hemorrhagic pancreatic necrosis was observed with a large amount of peripancreatic gas. Cultures demonstrated C. perfringens. The identification of hemolysis and the accumulation of peripancreatic gas on computed tomography, which were both caused by an infection of C. perfringens, led us to make a diagnosis of clostridial infection of the pancreas.
ISSN:0941-1291
1436-2813
DOI:10.1007/s00595-003-2635-y