[Necrotizing fasciitis: results of a survey on management practices in French-speaking intensive care units]

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) are rare and severe soft tissue infections associated with a high mortality rate. In order to assess the management of NF in French-speaking intensive care units (ICUs), we conducted a survey endorsed by the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR).

Online self-administered survey.

A link to an online survey was sent by email to 4620 anesthesiologists and/or intensivists and was available online from January to February 2014.

One hundred and seventy-five physicians (3.8%) who worked in 135 ICUs filled out the online survey. Among respondents, 42% reported having managed up to two patients with NF during the previous year; 59% and 72% of respondents reported not having a surgical and a medical specialist consultant, respectively. A delayed access to the operating room (OR) of more than 6hours was reported in 31% of cases and access to the OR was reported not to be routinely considered as a priority in 13% of cases. Only 17% of respondents reported that time to transfer to the OR was never a cause for delayed surgery. The main causes for delayed surgery were: delayed diagnosis (45%), delayed validation of surgical intervention (37%), and difficulty of access to the OR (8%). Finally, 83% of respondents estimated that creating dedicated multidisciplinary teams for managing NFs could lead to improving outcomes.

This survey illustrates the heterogeneous management of NF in French-speaking ICUs and points out several logistical aspects that should be improved to reduce the time to the first surgical debridement.