Gangrene is necrosis and subsequent decay of body tissues caused by infection, thrombosis or lack of blood flow. It is usually the result of critically insufficient blood supply sometimes caused by injury and subsequent contamination with bacteria. This condition is most common in the extremities. The best of all possible treatments is revascularization (restoration) of the affected organ, which can reverse some of the effects of necrosis and allow healing. Depending on the extent of tissue loss and location, treatment other than revascularization runs the gamut from allowing digits to auto-amputate (fall off), debridement and local care, to amputation, the removal of infected, necrotic tissues. ==Types== Gangrene caused by a serious bacterial infection is called wet gangrene. Gangrene caused by lack of circulation in an injured or diseased area is called dry gangrene. One specific example of gangrene is so called ''diabetic foot'' that can be seen in long-standing complicated diabetes. It is caused by a combination of arterial ischemia, injury and poor healing that is rather common in diabetics. It often combines poor healing with a superimposed infection. The picture here is of a foot with a recent amputation of a great toe and yet increasing loss of circulation (the bluish area) with subsequent tissue loss to come. The most common surgical treatment for irreversible gangrene is amputation. ==History== In the years before antibiotics, fly maggots were commonly used to treat chronic wounds or ulcers to prevent or stop necrotic spread. Maggots consume only dead flesh, leaving nearby living tissue unaffected. Their use largely died out after the introduction of antibiotics and enzyme treatments for wounds. In recent years, however, maggot treatment has regained some credibility and is sometimes employed to great effect in cases of chronic tissue necrosis.
==Pathophysiology== ===Wet gangrene=== Wet gangrene is perhaps the more familiar of the two types, at least in media portrayals. An injury, such as a gunshot or laceration, leads to a bacterial infection, which produces pus. If the pus does not drain well, the blood supply to the area is blocked, and with it, the oxygen. With its oxygen supply cut off, the tissue dies. Treatment of the underlying infection is necessary, as is removal of the dead tissue. Without treatment, the infection can spread further and destroy increasing amounts of tissue. Eventually, sepsis and death can result.
===Dry gangrene=== [[Image:ULCERCELLULITIS1.JPG|thumb|Diabetic ulceration with central 'dry' gangrene and toward the edges wet gangrene with some ascending cellulitis]] If the blood flow is interrupted for a reason other than severe bacterial infection, the result is a dry gangrene. Persons with impaired peripheral blood flow, such as diabetics, are at greater risk for dry gangrene. The early signs of dry gangrene are a dull ache and sensation of coldness in the area, along with pallor of the flesh. If caught early, the process can sometimes be reversed by vascular surgery. However, if necrosis sets in, the affected tissue must be removed just as with wet gangrene. Surgery Symptoms gd:Aillse
== Pictures... == I came across this page as I was swallowing an orange slice. Perhaps it would be prudent to put a warning on the page so readers can brace themselves before seeing the decaying toes? I am not sure how to do this. :I agree with you, it would be better if there were just links to the pictures and a warning that they are not suitable for sensible people. Guys, Wikipedia has had numerous votes about unappetising pictures and others not suitable for everybody. On the whole, the vote always ends up that pictures should not be linked. Sorry. Use Wikipedia at your own risk. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 19:32, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC) == where is gangrene found in the world? I mean in what countries?please answer ASAP == :Worldwide, but the causes differ. In Europe it's smoking diabetics, but in the Third World it's Clostridium, Lepra etc. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 20:23, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC) Gangrene is not a disease but the end result of tissue death. There is no 'boundary' for this and the pictures were taken in NewEngland this past summer. It crosses all socio-economic boundaries. Most gangrene in the extremities is seen as a result of loss of circulation and an inability of the tissue to repair. Much of it in the United States is a result of diabetes, some of atherosclerosis either related to diabetes or hypercholesterolemia or cold injury. User:Drgnu23 00:34, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) == death as a result of gangrene == I have a friend who has just been told he has gangrene in his leg. It has been unusable for the past three years as the result of a stroke. He is in the hospital and has been told he has gangrene and is too weak to live through amputation or vein grafting. Is there any other treatment? Do we have to sit back and watch him die? :I'm not going to second guess the vascular surgeons who are watching over him. Alas the gangrene is most likely a result of insufficient blood supply. I've got a patient now who has been nearly 19 months with antibiotic therapy and local wound care who has not progressed much ... the question always is quality of life. I do suggest this be taken to a medicine FORUM rather than wiki User:Drgnu23 == Copyright violation == Most of this article was based on content taken from http://txtx.essortment.com/whatisgangrene_rejx.htm and dumped there by User:134.148.20.1 at the start of October 2004. I've reverted to the last revision that doesn't have this content. User:Edward 00:57, 2004 Dec 30 (UTC) :I've put back most of the removed content via paraphrase and other non-copying methods. Also, whole paragraphs which are not in the copyvio source were reinserted. User:Grendelkhan|User_talk:Grendelkhan 03:43, 2004 Dec 31 (UTC) ==Testimonial== MY UNCLE ALMOST DIED FORM INTERNAL GANGRENE HE WAS HAVING PAIN FOR A LONG TIME AND DID NOT TELL ANY ONE. ONE DAY THE PAIN GOT SO BAD HE HAD TOLD MY GRANDPARENTS AND HE WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL. THE DOCTORS THERE SAID IF HE WOULD HAVE WAITED ANOTHER DAY HE WOULD HAVE DIED. BUT NOW IT IS ABOUT THREE YEARS LATER AND IS STILL LIVING. :Thankfully. "Gangrene" is not really used for that specific condition. Mesenteric ischemia is in use. Indeed, necrosis of the gut is a medical emergency as pathogens from the intestine mount a septic reaction. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 20:19, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Gangrene:
Gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is necrosis and subsequent decay of body tissues caused by infection, thrombosis or lack of blood flow. It is usually the result of critically insufficient blood supply sometimes caused by injury and subsequent contamination with bacteria. This condition is most common in the extremities. The best of all possible treatments is revascularization (restoration) of the affected organ, which can reverse some of the effects of necrosis and allow healing. Depending on the extent of tissue loss and location, treatment other than revascularization runs the gamut from allowing digits to auto-amputate (fall off), debridement and local care, to amputation, the removal of infected, necrotic tissues. ==Types== Gangrene caused by a serious bacterial infection is called wet gangrene. Gangrene caused by lack of circulation in an injured or diseased area is called dry gangrene. One specific example of gangrene is so called ''diabetic foot'' that can be seen in long-standing complicated diabetes. It is caused by a combination of arterial ischemia, injury and poor healing that is rather common in diabetics. It often combines poor healing with a superimposed infection. The picture here is of a foot with a recent amputation of a great toe and yet increasing loss of circulation (the bluish area) with subsequent tissue loss to come. The most common surgical treatment for irreversible gangrene is amputation. ==History== In the years before antibiotics, fly maggots were commonly used to treat chronic wounds or ulcers to prevent or stop necrotic spread. Maggots consume only dead flesh, leaving nearby living tissue unaffected. Their use largely died out after the introduction of antibiotics and enzyme treatments for wounds. In recent years, however, maggot treatment has regained some credibility and is sometimes employed to great effect in cases of chronic tissue necrosis.
==Pathophysiology== ===Wet gangrene=== Wet gangrene is perhaps the more familiar of the two types, at least in media portrayals. An injury, such as a gunshot or laceration, leads to a bacterial infection, which produces pus. If the pus does not drain well, the blood supply to the area is blocked, and with it, the oxygen. With its oxygen supply cut off, the tissue dies. Treatment of the underlying infection is necessary, as is removal of the dead tissue. Without treatment, the infection can spread further and destroy increasing amounts of tissue. Eventually, sepsis and death can result.
===Dry gangrene=== [[Image:ULCERCELLULITIS1.JPG|thumb|Diabetic ulceration with central 'dry' gangrene and toward the edges wet gangrene with some ascending cellulitis]] If the blood flow is interrupted for a reason other than severe bacterial infection, the result is a dry gangrene. Persons with impaired peripheral blood flow, such as diabetics, are at greater risk for dry gangrene. The early signs of dry gangrene are a dull ache and sensation of coldness in the area, along with pallor of the flesh. If caught early, the process can sometimes be reversed by vascular surgery. However, if necrosis sets in, the affected tissue must be removed just as with wet gangrene. Surgery Symptoms gd:Aillse
Gangrene
== Pictures... == I came across this page as I was swallowing an orange slice. Perhaps it would be prudent to put a warning on the page so readers can brace themselves before seeing the decaying toes? I am not sure how to do this. :I agree with you, it would be better if there were just links to the pictures and a warning that they are not suitable for sensible people. Guys, Wikipedia has had numerous votes about unappetising pictures and others not suitable for everybody. On the whole, the vote always ends up that pictures should not be linked. Sorry. Use Wikipedia at your own risk. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 19:32, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC) == where is gangrene found in the world? I mean in what countries?please answer ASAP == :Worldwide, but the causes differ. In Europe it's smoking diabetics, but in the Third World it's Clostridium, Lepra etc. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 20:23, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC) Gangrene is not a disease but the end result of tissue death. There is no 'boundary' for this and the pictures were taken in NewEngland this past summer. It crosses all socio-economic boundaries. Most gangrene in the extremities is seen as a result of loss of circulation and an inability of the tissue to repair. Much of it in the United States is a result of diabetes, some of atherosclerosis either related to diabetes or hypercholesterolemia or cold injury. User:Drgnu23 00:34, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) == death as a result of gangrene == I have a friend who has just been told he has gangrene in his leg. It has been unusable for the past three years as the result of a stroke. He is in the hospital and has been told he has gangrene and is too weak to live through amputation or vein grafting. Is there any other treatment? Do we have to sit back and watch him die? :I'm not going to second guess the vascular surgeons who are watching over him. Alas the gangrene is most likely a result of insufficient blood supply. I've got a patient now who has been nearly 19 months with antibiotic therapy and local wound care who has not progressed much ... the question always is quality of life. I do suggest this be taken to a medicine FORUM rather than wiki User:Drgnu23 == Copyright violation == Most of this article was based on content taken from http://txtx.essortment.com/whatisgangrene_rejx.htm and dumped there by User:134.148.20.1 at the start of October 2004. I've reverted to the last revision that doesn't have this content. User:Edward 00:57, 2004 Dec 30 (UTC) :I've put back most of the removed content via paraphrase and other non-copying methods. Also, whole paragraphs which are not in the copyvio source were reinserted. User:Grendelkhan|User_talk:Grendelkhan 03:43, 2004 Dec 31 (UTC) ==Testimonial== MY UNCLE ALMOST DIED FORM INTERNAL GANGRENE HE WAS HAVING PAIN FOR A LONG TIME AND DID NOT TELL ANY ONE. ONE DAY THE PAIN GOT SO BAD HE HAD TOLD MY GRANDPARENTS AND HE WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL. THE DOCTORS THERE SAID IF HE WOULD HAVE WAITED ANOTHER DAY HE WOULD HAVE DIED. BUT NOW IT IS ABOUT THREE YEARS LATER AND IS STILL LIVING. :Thankfully. "Gangrene" is not really used for that specific condition. Mesenteric ischemia is in use. Indeed, necrosis of the gut is a medical emergency as pathogens from the intestine mount a septic reaction. User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 20:19, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
G
GA | GB | GC | GD | GE | GF | GH | GI | GJ | GK | GL | GM | GN | GO | GP | GR | GS | GT | GU | GW | GX | GY | GZ |Words begining with Gangrene:
Gangrene
Gangrene
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